Kuala lumpur: Malaysian businesses are among the most targeted in Southeast Asia for web-based threats, recording 190,556 exploit attempts, averaging over 1,050 attacks a day, in the first half of 2025 (1H 2025), according to cybersecurity company Kaspersky.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, this represents a 16 percent increase from the same period last year, reflecting a clear upward trend as digital infrastructure continues to expand. Within Southeast Asia, Malaysia ranks third in terms of exploit volume, behind Indonesia with 524,657 attempts and Vietnam with 301,800.

Kaspersky noted that exploits are a type of malicious programme designed to take advantage of bugs or vulnerabilities in software or operating systems to gain unauthorised access. When left unpatched, these weak points serve as open doors for cybercriminals. Kaspersky’s managing director for Asia Pacific, Adrian Hia, emphasized that a 16 percent jump in exploit attempts against Malaysian businesses within just six months highlights the relentlessness of these attackers.

Hia stated, “As the country’s online economy expands, closing the gap in unpatched systems is not just about avoiding attacks but also fortifying the nation’s digital progress. Threat intelligence tells us exactly where attackers are focusing, so Malaysian enterprises can strengthen defences before the damage is done.”

The company also reported that, overall, businesses in Malaysia encountered 1.70 million business-to-business web-based threats in the first six months of 2025. This makes Malaysia the second most targeted country in Southeast Asia, with incidents exceeding Indonesia’s 1.63 million threats and outpaced only by Thailand’s 2.52 million.

Kaspersky explained that web-based threats refer to malware programmes that can target users when they are browsing the Internet. These threats are not limited to online activity but ultimately involve the Internet at some stage to inflict harm.