KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 -- Malaysia and other countries in the Asia Pacific face risks of cyber threats that are the global average as attackers shift their attention beyond the US, according to a report by online security firm FireEye.

In its "Regional Advanced Threat Report: Asia Pacific 1H 2015", FireEye found a notable increase in exposure to advanced persistent threats (APT) in Asia where the exposure rate is more than 50 per cent higher in at least seven countries compared to the global average.

The report said this was illustrated by several major events involving cyber security in the region, such as China’s move to “weaponise” its Great Firewall to become what some observers now call the Great Cannon, and FireEye’s discovery of a decade-long cyber espionage campaign that gleaned political, economic and military data from organisations across southeast Asia and India.

As of the first half of this year, Malaysian enterprises and institutions have a 33-per cent chance of encountering APTs, matching the Asia Pacific average but above the Southeast Asian average of 29 per cent and the global average of 20 per cent.

FireEye describes APTs as a set of cyber tools, techniques and procedures used directly or indirectly by a nation-state or a sophisticated professional criminal organisation for cyber espionage or the long-term subversion of adversary networks.

APT exposure is progressively higher in other Asian countries highlighted in the report, which include India (38 per cent), the Philippines (39 per cent), South Korea (39 per cent), Thailand (40 per cent), Taiwan (48 per cent) and Hong Kong (50 per cent).

FireEye noted that the increase in exposure was most significant for Thailand, which is now more than twice as likely to face APTs compared to the global average, up from last year when its exposure was below the global average.

Thailand also ranked among the top-five countries in the Asia Pacific with the highest number of cases of malicious exploits/downloads and command-and-control (CnC) infection callbacks.

By industry, FireEye said Asia’s institutions of higher education experienced higher levels of attacks compared to traditional targets such as the high-tech and financial services sectors.

The high-tech sector, however, remains the industry reporting the most number of cases of malicious exploits/downloads, followed by financial services, government (federal), service providers, education, telecommunications, services/consulting, energy/utilities, government (state and local) and entertainment/media/hospitality.

The high-tech sector again topped the list of industries reporting CnC infection callbacks, followed by government (federal), financial services, manufacturing, education, service providers, telecommunications, services/consulting, energy/utilities and government (state and local).