The ongoing digitalisation of operations, financial transactions, and the growing reliance on online systems and personal devices for work present more opportunities for potential cyber attacks.

For instance, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning pose risks to businesses that rely heavily on algorithms or automation.  In the absence of robust cybersecurity measures, any security breach, such as adversarial attacks or data poisoning, can result in severe consequences such as financial and reputation loss. The worst case would be the erosion of customer trust which will lead to the business having to shutter.

Therefore, there is a growing need for more advanced cybersecurity solutions. These solutions must be proactive, intelligent, and adaptable, focusing on securing devices, networks, and sensitive data.

Find out more in this article about the latest technological cyber threats and practical recommendations for organisations to enhance their security posture.

Top Cybersecurity Trends in 2023 – And How You Can Prepare for Them

Phishing Attacks on Home Networks

The rise of remote work has been a game-changer for businesses and employees worldwide, offering flexibility and new opportunities to recruit talent from wherever they may be. However, this paradigm shift also presents significant cybersecurity risks. Remote workers often operate in home-network environments where access management is not professionally managed, making them vulnerable to cyber threats.

One such threat is phishing. Phishing is a type of online scam where cybercriminals impersonate legitimate organisations or individuals to trick people into revealing sensitive information. Such data breaches could include personal details like usernames, passwords, and credit card details.

In Singapore, phishing scams topped the list of fraudulent schemes, registering 7,097 instances in 2022.

Today, a specialised form of phishing, Business Email Compromise (BEC), is growing at a rapid rate. As reported by Secureworks, this email-based social engineering cyber attack, designed to defraud victims, has doubled in 2022.

Additionally, attackers are now leveraging Business Communication Compromise, a new scheme that targets large global corporations and government agencies. They exploit a wider range of communication tools, including chat and mobile messaging platforms like Slack, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and more. This diversification in communication channels allows cybercriminals to carry out sophisticated attacks, posing a considerable challenge to organisations’ cybersecurity efforts.

In response to this, an emerging security strategy, zero-trust architecture—in which everyone’s network should be assumed hostile—is now increasingly adopted by enterprises. Based on the principle of ‘Never Trust, Always Verify’, this zero-trust assumption is especially applicable to remote work environments, treating everything outside the enterprise’s control as potentially malicious.

This strategy is vital as many firms are under pressure to quickly upgrade remote working capabilities, and their IT departments may have changed existing systems without sufficient time for thorough security tests. This haste can result in undetected vulnerabilities in remote access infrastructure, which cybercriminals can exploit. Furthermore, home networks today closely resemble the risky conditions found on public WiFi networks, such as those at hotels, coffee shops, or airports.

Home networks are therefore also a crucial part of business infrastructure due to remote work, and deserve the same level of security—a task SPTel’s Business Home Broadband solution can readily tackle.

Here are some features you’ll find in SPTel’s Business Broadband solution:

• Network-level protection: SPTel’s solution extends enterprise grade security to any device (even personal mobile devices) connected to the network.
• Monitored by a world-class security operations centre: This ensures the highest level of protection for your remote work environment.
• Clean pipe connectivity: The service comes with DDoS attack detection as a default as well as the option to mitigate on demand.
• Business-class support: SPTel provides 24/7 phone assistance and on-site support activated in as little as 2 hours.
• Value-added services: Our virtual Firewall eliminates the need for on-premise cybersecurity hardware at your employee’s home and frees you from the hassle of management and maintenance of hardware.

Learn more about SPTel’s Business Home Broadband solution here.

DDoS Attacks

Cybersecurity threats continue to evolve every day, with DDoS attacks becoming increasingly prevalent. Today, Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups weaponise DDoS attacks to target critical infrastructure organisations, posing significant risks to their operations, infrastructure, security teams and the broader community.

Singapore, in particular, faces a heightened threat, as it ranks as the second most targeted country in Asia for DDoS attacks. The Asia-Pacific region, in general, has experienced a surge in the frequency and intensity of such cyberattacks, putting businesses, governments, and individuals on high alert. In light of these escalating cyber threats, organisations must prioritise robust cybersecurity measures and adopt proactive strategies to protect their digital infrastructure, valuable data and assets from DDoS attacks and other cyber risks.

The most effective method for businesses to defend against DDoS attacks is through a clean pipe network. At SPTel, our clean pipe network delivers proactive DDoS attack detection, alerting users as soon as an attack targets their internet IP addresses. This early warning enables users to act swiftly and even supports on-demand mitigation.

Here are some features you’ll find in the solution:

• Clean pipe network: A clean pipe network helps identify threats as they happen and provide you the option to mitigate on demand, ensuring uninterrupted access for legitimate users, including customers and employees.
• Save time & resources: Your cybersecurity team can allocate more time and resources to addressing critical incidents instead of monitoring for DDoS attacks that often serve as distractions.
• Pay-As-You-Go: Companies can opt for on-demand mitigation and pay only when they use the service, making it a more cost-effective and flexible solution. This innovative approach eliminates purchasing DDoS mitigation in advance as “insurance.”

Learn more about SPTel’s Clean Pipe Network solution here.

What Is The #1 Cybersecurity Threat Today?



Today, firmware vulnerabilities pose a massive cybersecurity threat to businesses, enabling malicious actors to exploit weaknesses and breach systems.

Although vendors typically release patches for identified vulnerabilities, they are usually not part of automated security systems, and it often falls upon users to download and apply these patches. Unfortunately, keeping track of vulnerability announcements and allocating manpower resources for patch updates can be challenging.

Furthermore, as revealed by the Microsoft Security Signals Report in 2021, 83% of enterprises had encountered a firmware attack in the last two years, yet only 29% of security budgets are dedicated to firmware protection.

So if you’re looking to safeguard your businesses from firmware vulnerability exposure, there’s no better time than now.

SPTel offers Managed Services and Lifecycle Management (MS LCM) to assist customers in applying critical patches promptly, while also addressing other patch-related needs upon request.

To avoid configuration errors resulting from overwhelmed IT staff, customers also have the option to outsource the management of their security appliances to SPTel. Our team possesses the necessary expertise to ensure the proper configuration is implemented according to customers’ requests.

Additionally, our Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) services help identify unpatched vulnerabilities, poor configurations, and data management issues. Through collaboration with our MS partners, we conduct VAPT and provide actionable remediation actions and expert consultation.

SPTel’s Managed Services provide all of that as well as integrated technical support. This ensures regular updates, such as security patches, are done to prevent potential cyber security attacks. It also includes ongoing change management support and evaluation of the impact of critical network updates with the customer.

Explore more about SPTel’s managed security services for additional assurance regarding your company’s overall network security.

Secure Your Business Operations with SPTel



As remote work becomes an increasingly prevalent aspect of modern business, and cyber crimes such as DDoS attacks and vulnerabilities in communication channels continue to evolve, it is crucial to have cybersecurity controls to ensure your business is well-protected.

By choosing SPTel’s comprehensive cyber security solutions, you can stay ahead with automatic threat detection to maintain a secure, reliable, and efficient digital ecosystem.

Don’t wait until it’s too late to find a qualified provider. Safeguard your business operations now with SPTel’s cutting-edge services. Explore SPTel’s Managed Security and Business Broadband solutions for home and corporate offices today.