Building Trust in Technology
In today’s mobile-first and cloud-first world, security and privacy are central concerns. COVID-19 has seen Asia’s workforce shift drastically to remote working, and organizations are relying more than ever on technology that they trust. With over US$1 billion spent each year on cybersecurity, Microsoft is ensuring the highest levels of security for its users and cloud platforms.
The 2019 Asia edition of the Microsoft Security Endpoint Threat Report found that despite the general decrease in encounter rates across Asia, developing countries remain vulnerable to malware and ransomware attacks while developed countries are more susceptible to cryptocurrency mining.
Microsoft is committed to helping organizations improve their cybersecurity posture as attacks increase in sophistication and exploit the public’s fears and desire for information. To do this, we are deploying strong tools to safeguard individuals and infrastructure, including multi-factor authentication (MFA) endpoint protection and Microsoft Cloud App Security.
Furthermore, Microsoft has pioneered the Zero Trust model, which assumes breach and verifies each request on a device as though it originates from an open network. Regardless of where or what, Zero Trust teaches us to “never trust, always verify.” This comprehensive approach by Microsoft ensures every access request is fully authenticated, authorized, and encrypted before granting access.
Fighting cybercrime in Asia and beyond
Microsoft has invested in Asia Pacific for more than 30 years and built critical digital infrastructure, including 18 Azure regions that provide computing foundations and cloud services.
Microsoft Asia’s regional Cybersecurity Center in Singapore partners with government agencies and international organizations to protect, detect, and respond to cybercrime threats with advanced analytics and innovations in AI and machine learning.
Through our Digital Crimes Unit, Microsoft uses advanced analytics and AI to identify, investigate, disrupt, and dismantle sophisticated online criminal networks. Its team of attorneys, investigators, data scientists, engineers, analysts, and business professionals in 20 countries partners with public and private stakeholders to act fast against cyberthreats associated with malware, phishing, and fraud. This serves to disrupt nation-state cybercrime activity and protect customer security and privacy.
In 2020, in collaboration with partners in countries like India and Japan, Microsoft disrupted the Necurs botnet, one of the largest global networks in the spam email threat ecosystem. Microsoft has also provided support to identify and tackle COVID-19 themed attacks on customers, including healthcare organizations.