A new report from global cybersecurity company Kaspersky reveals that ransomware attacks against Singaporean businesses are highly targeted. This reflects a global trend where cybercriminals prioritise high-value organisations over mass attacks.
The firm also issued a severe warning about the emergence of AI-powered ransomware groups, such as FunkSec, which are dramatically lowering the entry barriers for sophisticated cyber threats across Southeast Asia (SEA).
Also Read: Singapore hit by 6.4M cyberattacks in 2024 as AI supercharges threats
Kaspersky’s analysis, focusing on the first half of 2025 (H1 2025), found that ransomware impacted a relatively small portion of its enterprise users in Singapore. Only 0.18 per cent of Kaspersky enterprise users in the country were hit by the threat. While seemingly minor, this percentage is characteristic of ransomware, as attackers deliberately target lucrative entities, including large corporations and banks, reducing the overall number of incidents while maximising impact.
The precision of these attacks signals a strategic shift away from indiscriminate campaigns.
AI threat escalation in Southeast Asia
The report highlighted an escalating threat across the broader SEA region, stressing that AI is fundamentally altering the landscape of cyber warfare. Earlier Kaspersky data revealed that organisations in the region faced an average of 400 ransomware attempts daily throughout 2024, resulting in a total of 135,274 blocked attacks last year by Kaspersky’s security solutions.
Adrian Hia, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky, warned that AI is enabling attacks at an “unprecedented scale”. “The rise of AI-powered ransomware groups like FunkSec is a clear warning of the cyber risks confronting Singapore and the broader Southeast Asia region.”
“AI is drastically lowering both the cost and the skill barriers for threat actors, effectively enabling the launch of cyberattacks at an unprecedented scale. Moreover, the machine learning capabilities of AI are also making these threats increasingly adaptive and evasive. This development in the threat landscape, where attacks are not only more frequent, but also harder to detect, creates urgent challenges for governments, businesses, and individuals alike,” Hia added.
Top threats identified
Kaspersky also disclosed the top five ransomware families specifically targeting enterprises of various sizes throughout Southeast Asia:
- Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Wanna
- Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Gen
- Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Crypmod
- Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Crypren
- Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Encoder
These Trojans function by modifying data on the victim’s computer, effectively taking the data “hostage” through blocking or encryption, or preventing the computer from running correctly. Victims then receive a ransom demand, promising a restoration programme upon payment to the malicious user.
Recommendations for corporate defence
To safeguard against these precise and evolving threats, Kaspersky experts issued best practices for organisations. These include ensuring ransomware protection is enabled for all endpoints and utilising tools like the free Kaspersky Anti-Ransomware Tool for Business.
Also Read: Crypto-security race: Sysdig believes real-time visibility is non-negotiable
Further critical steps include:
- Always keeping software updated on all devices to prevent attackers from exploiting known vulnerabilities.
- Focusing the defence strategy on detecting lateral movements and data exfiltration to the internet, paying specific attention to outgoing traffic.
- Setting up offline backups that intruders cannot tamper with, ensuring they are quickly accessible during emergencies.
- Installing anti-APT and EDR solutions to enable advanced threat discovery, investigation, and timely incident remediation.
- Providing Security Operations Centre (SOC) teams with access to the latest Threat Intelligence information to stay informed of current Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) used by actors.
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A new report from global cybersecurity company Kaspersky reveals that ransomware attacks against Singaporean businesses are highly targeted. This reflects a global trend where cybercriminals prioritise high-value organisations over mass attacks. The firm also issued a severe warning about the emergence of AI-powered ransomware groups, such as FunkSec, which are dramatically lowering the entry barriers
The post Singapore businesses face ‘laser-focused’ cyberattacks as AI lowers entry barriers appeared first on e27. Cybersecurity, News, Reports, Singapore, AI, artificial intelligence, cyber attacks, Kaspersky e27