3rd Party Risk Management , Fraud Management & Cybercrime , Governance & Risk Management

Ransomware Attacks on APAC Driven by Greed, Not Geopolitics

Ransomware and malicious cyber activity are growing in the Asia-Pacific region, targeting networks, intellectual property and finances. Anshuman Sharma, associate director of the computer security incident response team and investigative response for Asia-Pacific and Japan with Verizon in Singapore, recently shared the impact of ransomware attacks targeting the region and how organizations must prepare for the threat.

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An IBM report in February 2023 revealed that cybercriminals had targeted the Asia-Pacific region more than Europe or North America in 2022, underscoring the scale of threats faced by APAC entities (see: Asia-Pacific Faced the Highest Share of Cyberattacks in 2022). A survey by Thales revealed that nearly half of APAC businesses experienced an increase in ransomware attacks over the previous year.

Sharma said Verizon's 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report showed that social engineering, system intrusion and web application attacks accounted for 93% of breaches in the Asia-Pacific region in 2022, and cybercriminals were behind 98% of the attacks driven by financial or espionage motives.

Ransomware is the weapon of choice for financially motivated actors, he said. Verizon's DBIR report found that ransomware was responsible for a majority of system intrusions and one-quarter of data breaches worldwide, revealing that it continues to be a global problem.

Sharma also discussed why digital-only banks in the Asia-Pacific region must guard against web application attacks, secure API integrations with third parties, and be on the lookout for impersonation, fraud and identity theft.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, Sharma also discussed:

• The top cybersecurity considerations for digital-only banks operating in the Asia-Pacific region;
• How digital-only banks can defend against the threat posed by deepfake technology;
• The impact of supply chain vulnerability exploitations.

Sharma handles Verizon's business portfolio management for professional services and is focused on digital forensics, incident response and threat intelligence in the Asia-Pacific and Japan region. He has over 17 years of experience in managing large projects, leading people and managing consulting businesses.