THE rapid growth rate of Malaysia’s fintech market has posed a significant threat to local industry players as it attracts malicious actors to the sector.
In the 1Q 2024 alone, home-grown fintech firms experienced the highest number of application layer DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks which accounted for half of all recorded incidents during this period, according to cyberattack mitigation service provider Qrator Labs.
The figure represents a notable surge from 4Q 2023 when financial technologies accounted for 37.58% of all attacks.
This has prompted Qrator Labs’ chief business officer Victor Zyamzin to warn that the number may continue to rise as the sector is rapidly developing with more consumers in Malaysia adopting fintech solutions, including mobile payments and digital banking.
The value of Malaysia’s fintech market is projected to almost double by 2029 to reach US$96.09 bil (RM452.3 bil).
‘Thanks to the widespread availability of smartphones, improved internet infrastructure and governmental initiatives, these solutions are now accessible to over 90% of Malaysians,” commented Zyamzin in a media statement.
This trend is also evident to malicious actors with banks and payment systems being the most targeted sectors within the fintech field at 29.91% and 9.8% respectively of all application layer DDoS attacks in 1Q 2024.
Banks experienced an increase compared to 4Q 2023 when they accounted for 14.85% of all application layer DDoS attacks. In contrast, payment systems saw a slight drop over the same period, declining from 14.28%.
According to Zyamzin, application layer DDoS attacks target the top layer of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model where websites operate.
In simpler terms, the malicious actors would send a massive volume of requests to a specific platform to disable it.
Such cyberattacks can significantly disrupt operations, leading to financial losses for entities as well as their customers.
According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Global Financial Stability Report, nearly one-fifth of reported cyber incidents in the past two decades have caused US$12 bil in direct losses to financial firms.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to minimiise cybersecurity risks for companies. Businesses can implement predictive algorithms to prevent DDoS attacks or use reliable security services and tools that help test current cybersecurity software and reveal its vulnerabilities. – June 13, 2024
Main image credit: Finance Magnates
