Global Cybersecurity Company Kaspersky Warns Filipinos Against Plugging in Unscanned Thumb Drives
In a recent report, global cybersecurity company Kaspersky has issued a warning to Filipinos to be cautious when plugging in memory storage universal serial bus (USB) devices to their computers. The company released data showing that 36.80 percent of users in the Philippines were attacked by local threats from USB devices last year.
According to the report, local threats refer to malware spread through removable media such as flash drives, CDs, DVDs, and other offline methods. Worms and file viruses were identified as the main culprits in these incidents.
The Philippines ranked third in Southeast Asia for the highest number of users attacked by local threats, trailing behind Vietnam and Indonesia. Kaspersky’s Siang Tiong Yeo emphasized the need for data security when using USB devices, warning that these seemingly harmless devices could cause a cybersecurity catastrophe.
The Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), which processes cybersecurity-related data streams from millions of voluntary participants around the world, provided the data. The report also revealed that the Philippines ranked 76th globally in KSN reports last year, with Kaspersky solutions detecting and blocking a total of 22,731,157 local threats.
The company also pointed out that even secure USB drive manufacturers are not immune to vulnerabilities. Despite following the FIPS 140 certification standard, some encrypted USB drives can still be susceptible to attacks.
The report classified the danger levels of USBs into three categories: serendipitous, professional, and state-sponsored, each varying in the level of resources required for an attack to occur.
While thumb drives are convenient and often used for storing data, Kaspersky’s report serves as a timely reminder for Filipinos to prioritize data security and exercise caution when using USB devices.
