One-third of observed organizations in Asia Pacific were exposed to targeted cyber attacks in the first six months of 2015, which was a “highly eventful period,” according to a new report from FireEye.
Organizations in all countries included in the report were observed to have greater exposure to targeted attacks than the global average.
Findings also show that in Southeast Asia, organizations were 45% more likely to be attacked than the global average. The previous report found them only 7% more likely to be attacked.
Nearly half of organizations in Hong Kong and Taiwan reported encountering targeted attacks.
South Korea topped several rankings in the report, including the highest volume of network traffic phoning home to threat groups' command and control infrastructure.
Australia's rate of exposure grew by 30% from the findings of the company's previous regional advanced threat report.
The industries most likely to be attacked were found to be telecommunications, government, education, high-tech and financial services. Education rose significantly in rank from past findings.
"Asia's intellectual property and sensitive information attract targeted attacks by sophisticated threat groups," said Eric Hoh, president of Asia Pacific Japan at FireEye. "While awareness of threats in the region is improving, too many leaders still assume their organizations aren't targeted, and they continue to rely on traditional defense systems.
Hoh said most organizations need to move faster to shore up their security, because these attacks can reach them in milliseconds.
In April, China was reported to have weaponized its Great Firewall, turning into what some dubbed the Great Cannon. A short time later, FireEye published its APT30 report, which revealed a decade-long cyber espionage campaign--targeting organizations across Southeast Asia and India--that sought political, economic and military information. In May and June, major breaches made headlines in Australia and Japan, respectively.