Singapore most exposed to cyberattacks exploiting trusted relationships in APAC, Kaspersky says

Trusted partner connections led to breaches in one in three Singaporean firms.

Trusted relationship attacks affected one in three Singaporean organisations over the past year, making it the most targeted market in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a Kaspersky survey.

Vietnam followed at 27%, whilst India (23%), Indonesia (22%), and China (15%) also reported significant exposures. 

Trusted relationship attacks are also regarded by 37% of Singaporean firms as amongst the top few most dangerous cyberthreats, higher than the global average of 26%. 

These attacks often exploit contractors, vendors, or partners with authorised access to company systems, allowing cybercriminals to bypass traditional defenses.

The same report also found that Singaporean companies reported exposure to supply chain attacks over the past 12 months, with around 26% of enterprises experiencing them. 

Large enterprises in Singapore reported the highest rate of exposure as these organisations typically manage dozens of software and hardware suppliers and grant system access to numerous contractors.

Across APAC, other countries reported exposure to supply chain and trusted relationship attacks, including China with 40% supply chain attacks, Vietnam at 34%, India at 29%, and Indonesia at 20%.

Globally, 31% of enterprise businesses reported a supply chain attack in the past year.

Kaspersky recommended that companies evaluate suppliers before engagement and implement contractual security requirements. Organisations should also adopt preventive technologies such as zero trust and identity management.

Companies are also advised to maintain continuous monitoring using solutions like XDR or MXDR, develop incident response plans covering supply chain attacks, and collaborate with suppliers on security measures.

The survey was conducted by Kaspersky’s internal market research center, questioning 1,714 technical experts, including C-level executives and senior specialists from enterprises with more than 500 employees across 16 countries, including Singapore, Vietnam, China, and India.