Report: APAC Second Most Targeted Region as Attackers Exploit Basic Gaps

Why It Matters

The surge highlights urgent gaps in identity and configuration controls, threatening critical industries and prompting heightened investment in cloud visibility and AI‑driven defenses.

Key Takeaways

• APAC accounts for 27% of global cyber incidents.
• Malware makes up 45% of attacks, targeting public apps.
• Compromised credentials cause 30% of breaches in region.
• Manufacturing suffers 65% of APAC cyber attacks.
• Ransomware up 49% YoY; supply-chain hits quadrupled.

Pulse Analysis

Asia‑Pacific’s prominence in the cyber‑threat landscape reflects both its rapid digital transformation and lingering security fundamentals. IBM’s latest index reveals that attackers are increasingly exploiting low‑hanging fruit—misconfigured cloud services, outdated software, and weak authentication—while AI‑driven tools accelerate the identification of these weaknesses. This convergence of basic gaps and sophisticated automation creates a fertile environment for malware, which now represents nearly half of all malicious actions in the region.

The report underscores that public‑facing application vulnerabilities serve as the initial foothold in half of the incidents, and credential theft fuels a third of breaches. Manufacturing, a sector heavily reliant on IoT and legacy control systems, accounts for 65% of APAC attacks, exposing supply‑chain fragility. Meanwhile, finance and insurance face 17% of incidents, indicating that even regulated industries are not immune. The emergence of infostealer malware harvesting over 300,000 ChatGPT credentials illustrates how AI platforms are becoming new attack vectors, blurring the line between consumer and enterprise risk.

For organizations, the findings translate into a clear imperative: prioritize identity protection, enforce secure configurations, and achieve comprehensive visibility across multi‑cloud environments. The 49% year‑over‑year rise in ransomware and the near‑fourfold increase in supply‑chain compromises demand proactive threat hunting and resilient incident response frameworks. Investing in AI‑enhanced security analytics can offset the attackers’ advantage, while continuous employee education on credential hygiene remains a cost‑effective defense against the most prevalent breach mechanisms.