Singapore backdoor threats fall 49% in 2025; Southeast Asia cyber intrusions rise

The city-state recorded 50,511 incidents as regional cyber pressure grows.

Singapore’s backdoor detections nearly halved, falling 49% to 50,511 in 2025, as the Southeast Asia region recorded a rise in persistent cyber intrusions targeting enterprise systems, according to a Kaspersky report.

The city-state also reported more than 1.07 million on-device detections, referring to malware spread through removable USB drives, CDs, DVDs, and infected installation files.

Backdoors allow attackers to gain remote access to compromised machines. Once installed, they can execute commands, transfer or delete files, harvest data, and monitor activity without user knowledge.

Kaspersky said enterprise solutions detected and blocked more than 3.4 million backdoor attacks across the region in the same period, a 17% increase compared with 2024 data. It also reported more than 46.4 million on-device threat detections.

Adrian Hia, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky, said businesses in the region face a shift in attack patterns towards sustained access within systems, attributing exposure to hybrid work arrangements and the use of unmanaged devices across enterprise environments.