Kaspersky advocates proactive cybersecurity shift for Sri Lanka amid rising threats

Sri Lanka’s rapid adoption of digital technologies has ushered in tremendous opportunities for economic growth and innovation, but this accelerated digitization has simultaneously exposed critical vulnerabilities in software and infrastructure that cybercriminals are eagerly exploiting.

Global cybersecurity expert Kaspersky advocates that the island nation’s cybersecurity ecosystem must urgently evolve from reactive defense to proactive threat hunting and response to safeguard its digital future.

Sam Yan, Head of Sales for Asia Emerging Countries at Kaspersky, emphasized that investments in threat intelligence platforms and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools are essential to drastically reduce the window of vulnerability for local enterprises.

He noted that solutions such as Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert and Managed Detection and Response services are critical to identifying and stopping attacks at early stages before attackers can reach their final goals. This shift is vital as many organizations in Sri Lanka still operate legacy IT systems or delay critical security patches, creating ripe conditions for attackers to exploit known vulnerabilities.

The urgency for a proactive stance is underscored by recent data from the Kaspersky Security Bulletin 2024. Exploit-driven threats have risen sharply globally, with malicious file detections increasing by 14 percent to 467,000 per day, while Trojan activity grew by 33 percent.

The threat is particularly acute for local commerce; in 2024, Sri Lanka experienced 9,218 phishing attacks that impersonated financial institutions specifically to target businesses. Yan warned that the diversity of IT environments in Sri Lanka, ranging from government departments to private firms, means a one-size-fits-all approach does not work, necessitating tailored vulnerability management strategies.