March 20, 2023 9:54 p.m.

Phishing is one of the most prevalent forms of cybercrime due to the minimal effort required and the fact that it really works. 

It’s usually built around an inherently simple scheme: using carefully crafted emails or notifications that mimic messages from banks, government organizations, entertainment platforms—really any service—cybercriminals can trick users into following a link to a fraudulent website and giving up their payment or personal details or even downloading malicious programs.

Kaspersky in 2022 has blocked a total of 822,536 financial phishing targeted at companies in Southeast Asia (SEA). From SMBs to large enterprises, financial phishers kept trying to infect businesses in the

region last year.

In this case, “financial phishing” refers not only to banking specific phishing but also payment systems and e-shops. Payment system phishing includes pages impersonating well-known payment brands, such as PayPal, MasterCard, American Express, Visa and others. E-shops refer to online stores and auction sites like Amazon, the Apple Store, Steam, eBay etc.

Indonesia chalked up the highest number of financial phishing incidents (208,238). Vietnam comes second  with 172,694, and Malaysia recorded 120,656. Thailand logged 101,461 phishing attempts related to finances, followed by the Philippines with 52,914, and Singapore with 22,109.

“It’s interesting to see companies being targeted by financial phishing but we have to remember here that businesses, at their core, are still made up of humans. Phishing is a type of social engineering attack. Social engineering attack is dubbed as hacking of the human mind. With nine out of ten employees needing basic cybersecurity skills training, cybercriminals know that the workforce remains a loophole they can exploit easily to launch a cyberattack against a company,” says Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.

As reported, phishing email is usually the first chapter of 91% of all cyberattacks. A phishing simulation done by Kaspersky reinforced how cybercriminals trick employees into clicking malicious mails. 

It showed that workers tend not to notice pitfalls hidden in emails devoted to corporate issues and online delivery problem notifications and almost one in five (16% to 18%) clicked the link in the email templates imitating these phishing attacks.

Among the other phishing emails that gained a significant number of clicks are; reservation confirmations from a booking service (11%), a notification about an order placement (11%), and an IKEA contest announcement (10%).

To prevent complex attacks, and any related financial and reputational losses caused by phishing attacks, Kaspersky recommends the following for businesses:

• Remind your employees about the basic signs of phishing emails. A dramatic subject line, mistakes and typos, inconsistent sender addresses and suspicious links;
• If there is any doubt about the received email, check the format of attachments before opening them and the link accuracy before clicking. This can be achieved by hovering over these elements – making sure the address looks authentic and the attached files are not in an executable format;
• Always report phishing attacks. If you spot a phishing attack, report it to your IT security department and, if possible, avoid opening the malicious email. This will allow your cybersecurity team to reconfigure anti-spam policies and prevent an incident;
• Supply your employees with basic cybersecurity knowledge. Education should be aimed at changing the behavior of learners and teaching them how to deal with threats. As a major cybersecurity vendor, Kaspersky possesses a relevant base of information on real attacks and continuously supplements its Security Awareness Trainings in accordance with the current threat landscape;
• Since phishing attempts can be confusing, and there’s no guarantee of avoiding all accident clicks, protect your working devices and your enterprise perimeters with a holistic expert security like Kaspersky Extended Detection and Response (XDR) platform. It provides anti-spam capabilities, tracks suspicious behavior, and creates a backup copy of your files in case of ransomware attacks. Anti-phishing protection is also included, as well as threat hunting.

Enterprises can find out more about this new platform at go.kaspersky.com/expert .

Kaspersky in Southeast Asia also has launched a Buy 1 Free 1 promo. Businesses can now enjoy two years of enterprise-grade endpoint protection for the price of 1 with Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business or Cloud or Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum, with 24×7 phone support. Interested customers can reach out to sea.sales@kaspersky.com.  

The Pokémon Company shares the latest news about the Nintendo Switch software titles Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet.

Twenty-six years have passed since the release of the original Pokémon games—the Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Green Version in Japan—and Trainers have adventured in many regions and discovered many Pokémon. The number of discovered Pokémon has finally surpassed one thousand with the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet.

A commemorative video showcasing encounters with all 1,008 Pokémon has been released on the official Pokémon YouTube channel. Please check out the new footage in this link –

URL https://youtu.be/P4frpHqbz00

Meet the Evolutions of the Three First Partner Pokémon!

Gholdengo

Gholdengo, Pokémon #1,000 in the National Pokédex Gholdengo, the Pokémon that falls at #1,000 in the National Pokédex, evolves from Chest Form Gimmighoul or Roaming Form Gimmighoul.

An Evolution Driven by the Sentiments of a Thousand Coins

Gimmighoul evolves into Gholdengo when it levels up after its Trainer has collected 999 Gimmighoul Coins.

Apparently, this lively and cheerful Pokémon’s body is made of a thousand coins. It is friendly to both people and Pokémon.

The Coins That Form Its Body Are Used for Both Offense and Defense

Gholdengo controls the coins that comprise its body and even uses them as weapons in battle. The coins are densely packed, making Gholdengo durable. It can absorb impacts and lessen the damage it takes by letting coins fly off from areas hit by enemies. Gholdengo can attack by firing coins from anywhere on its body.

Floragato

Mischievous and Prone to Loneliness

Floragato is a mischievous show-off, desiring attention and company. If its Trainer won’t entertain it, Floragato may try to get attention by misbehaving—it might wrap its Trainer up with its vine during sleep, for example.

Skillfully Wields Its Vine and Strikes with Its Flower Bud

Floragato is intelligent and dexterous. The flower bud on its neck is on the tip of a long vine. Floragato specializes in attacking by deftly manipulating this vine to strike opponents with the hard flower bud on the end.

The leaf that was growing from the base of Floragato’s neck has become a cape.  

Meowscarada

Flower Bombs Catch Opponents Off Guard Like Magic

Meowscarada uses the fur lining its cape to reflect and scatter light, thus camouflaging the stem of its flower bomb and making it look like the flower bomb is floating in midair. Furthermore, Meowscarada can attach its pollen-packed flower bombs to various

surfaces and choose when to set them off. With skillful misdirection, Meowscarada rigs foes with flower bombs and sets them off before foes realize what’s going on.

Strong Attachment to Its Trainer

Meowscarada is prideful and likes to show off, but it’s also sensitive. This jealous Pokémon will often display a strong attachment to its Trainer, and its mood will sour if it sees another Pokémon getting its attention.

Crocalor

It Can Control the Egg-Shaped Fireball on Its Head

This Pokémon’s fire energy and overflowing vitality have mixed together into an egg-shaped fireball that Crocalor can maintain atop its head. In battle, Crocalor can send out the egg-shaped fireball as part of a move.

It Projects a Destructive Voice with Its Flames

The valve in this Pokémon’s flame sac is closely related to its vocal cords, and Crocalor tends to let its voice out when it breathes fire. It cannot be said that this voice is beautiful. When Crocalor tries to breathe more-powerful fire, its voice becomes more destructive, which may cause some opponents to take damage.

Skeledirge

Its Powerful Voice Soothes All Who Hear

Skeledirge is a busybody with a caring personality. Its gentle but powerful singing voice is filled with vitality, and it soothes the hearts of all who hear it. Foes that hear Skeledirge sing are left with feelings of warmth and fulfillment, thus losing their will to battle.

An Independent Fireball Spirit

Skeledirge gained its Ghost-type powers due to the influence of the soul inhabiting its fireball. The soul in the fireball is independent, and it can change its form via the power of Skeledirge’s singing voice.

Quaxwell

Serious and Stoic

Quaxwell has a serious and stoic disposition, and a tendency to compete with others to see whose kicks are the most graceful. It makes sure to consistently practice the fundamentals of its training wherever and whenever it can, and it observes Pokémon and people from various regions to incorporate their movements into its own dance routines.

Messy Hair Makes for a Weakened Mind and Body

The hair on Quaxwell’s head has impact-absorbing properties, so whenever an attack is incoming, Quaxwell holds a low posture and takes the blow with its head. It feels mentally and physically unwell if its hair gets messed up, so it uses gel to fix its hair immediately after getting attacked.

Quaquaval

It Slashes at Opponents with Its Decorative Water Feathers

The strength of Quaquaval’s well-trained legs is incredible. With a light kick, this Pokémon can flip a truck. During a battle, large decorative water feathers spray like a fountain from organs at the tips of its tail feathers, and it swings these water feathers around to slash through opponents like a water-jet cutter.

Cheerful and Always Breaking Out into Dance…But It Still Has Its Stoicism

Quaquaval is cheerful and energetic, and no matter the situation, it will shake its entire body in dances that evoke far-off places. On the other hand, it is very serious about consistently polishing its skills, and during critical moments, it shows a level of concentration that would amaze onlookers.

June 21, 2022 6:34 p.m.

Mhicaela Belen was hailed as the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball tournament Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player – making her the first-ever in the league’s long history.

National University’s Belen was just everywhere, leading the league in the service department at 0.47 per set, while also placing second in spiking with a 38.96 success rate, and third in scoring with 203 points in the elimination round.

With her outstanding all-around offensive prowess, she also bagged the 1st Best Outside Hitter as well.

Her defense was top-notch as well, going sixth in reception at a 40.85 efficiency rate while being eighth in digs at 2.38 per set.

Belen also knotted Dzi Gervacio’s record in most service aces in a single match with eighth. She did it against University of the Philippines last June 4.

The undefeated Lady Bulldogs dominated the other individual awards as well with Camilla Lamina and Jen Nierva copping Best Setter and Best Libero plums. Alyssa Solomon won the Best Opposite Spiker award.

Lamina tallied 5.81 excellent sets per set, while Nierva registered a 55.96 receiving percentage and 4.4 digs per set. Solomon had 145 spikes on a 38.98 percent success rate.

De La Salle University’s Thea Gagate emerged as this year’s 1st Best Middle Blocker with 0.6 blocks per set and 30 total blocks, while Lady Bulldog Sheena Toring got the 2nd Best Middle Blocker with an average of 0.47 per set and 22 total blocks.

Ateneo de Manila University’s Faith Nisperos nabbed the 2nd Best Outside Hitter trophy to round out the awardees, delivering 228 total spikes on a 34.86 percent success rate.

All of the student-athletes in the All-UAAP team are products of Nazareth School-National University.