The survey by security software specialist ReadiMinds was conducted by web and telephone polls across 11 economies including Malaysia, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.
In such internet scams, crooks typically pose as websites of financial institutions and attempt to “phish” for information including user names and online banking passwords, it said. In most Asian countries, “regulations are still catching up with the strengthening of their online security regime,” a ReadiMinds spokesman told The Business Times.
“Asian countries with weaker regulatory frameworks have therefore attracted the extra attention of online fraudsters.”
New threats
Singapore banks are the exception, fortifying their defences to counter the on slaught of new threats. Online security is still not regarded as a prime concern by majority of regional banks.
75 per cent of the respondents said they were not aware of the impact of cyber security on their operations. More than 60 per cent of the banks polled did not set aside a budget for online security, lumping it instead into the overall technology budget.
