Hackers expose Asia’s weak cyber defenses

From the Manila Standard Today (Nov 9): Hackers expose Asia’s weak cyber defenses

A rash of website hackings in the Asia-Pacific has exposed weak cyber defences which must be improved to help the region deal with more sophisticated and sinister threats, particularly from criminal organisations, analysts said.

Hackers claiming to be from the global activist group Anonymous compromised several government and commercial websites in Australia, the Philippines and Singapore recently, and vowed to mount wider attacks.

In the latest incident, Anonymous hackers on Thursday hijacked a section of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s official website, just a day after he vowed to “spare no effort” to hunt down anyone who attacks the regional financial centre’s technological network.

Cloud computing, the proliferation of mobile devices and the increasing use of social media have allowed an escalating volume of data to flow through multiple channels, giving hackers a wider field to ply their trade, analysts said.

They warned that Anonymous, which carries out attacks to highlight issues such as Internet freedom and corruption, is just one of the groups involved, and others with a more sinister agenda could inflict serious damage.

“The more sophisticated group that government and business should fear are the cyber-criminal organisations who have much greater resources at their disposal,” said Tan Shong Ye, information technology risk and cyber security leader at global business consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Their targets could be valuable intellectual property and critical infrastructure, including military and state secrets, Tan told AFP.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/11/09/hackers-expose-asias-weak-cyber-defenses/