KASPERSKY Lab, which sells computer anti-virus software, claims the Philippines has been attacked by a group of cyberspies known as Naikon.
“Naikon has been very active for years in Southeast Asia,” Kaspersky Lab ZAO Co. Executive Vicente Diaz told participants to an event in Manila the company recently organized.
This group was detected attacking the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore and Vietnam, according to Diaz, Kaspersky’s global research and analysis team principal security researcher.
Naikon, Diaz said, steals valuable data from top government instruments, like the Office of the President, armed forces, national security council, national intelligence agency, Justice Department, aviation authority and national police. Diaz said Hellsing, another cyber espionage group, has been spying on governments and diplomatic organizations in Southeast Asia aimed at achieving similar end.
Some cyber espionages are “obviously government-sponsored.”
“We have seen in some countries malware [malicious software] targeting activists, journalists and people, who are against the government,” Diaz said. Identifying the target of attacks can provide an idea on who are interested in spying, he added. “The attackers can be interested in the foreign policy of a particular country and in the individuals or organizations that get the contract of big projects.”
In the Philippines, 44 percent of users are attacked by at least 13 malwares classified as advanced persistent threats (APTs), placing the country as the 47th most-infected in the world, according to Diaz. He cited as example the Dark Hotel malware, which has infected data of guests in some hotels in Southeast Asian countries. Diaz didn’t name these hotels.
This malware is interested only in select and high-profile guests, like top government officials, diplomats and corporate people, he explained. The attackers can steal data from government organizations, firms and financial institutions by installing the malware in their computers to give them an insider’s eye, he said. With the malware installed, the attackers can take videos of the actual workplace.
“Naikon’s campaign is affecting the Philippines,” Diaz said, urging organizations in the country to tighten cybersecurity measures.
Image credits: Oliver Samson