The Philippines became more vulnerable to cyber attacks because of the popularity of cheaper android phones among Filipinos, according to a global cybersecurity company.
Vitaly Kamluk, director of the Global Research and Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific, said the Philippines ranked as the eighth most attacked country by mobile malware in 2016 given the popularity of Android phones among Filipinos.
“Unlike in US, most people use iOS. Android is more affordable but sometimes coming from not so reliable vendors in China. Affordable but they do not invest in security,” Kamluk said.
Data from Kaspersky Security Network showed over 34.97 percent Filipinos with smartphones were infected by malware in 2016. KSN is a complex, distributed infrastructure that processes depersonalized cybersecurity-related data streams from millions of voluntary Kaspersky Lab product users around the world.
“Our research and threat analysis has also uncovered four high-profile targeted attacks within a span of 12 months aimed against facilities and companies in the Philippines,” Kamluk said.