Interpol Report: Cybercrime Surges in Asia-Pacific, Accounting for 30% of National Crime in Half of Surveyed Countries
A new Interpol assessment reveals that cybercrime is increasingly dominating law enforcement caseloads across Asia and the South Pacific, no longer limited to specialized units. The 2025/2026 Asia and South Pacific Cyber Threat Assessment, published on June 17, 2026, analyzed trends from January 2024 to March 2025 across 18 member countries, highlighting phishing, ransomware, DDoS attacks, and AI-enabled scams as major threats.
Over half of the surveyed nations reported that cybercrime now constitutes 30% of recorded national crimes, though the figure reflects varying reporting standards rather than a regional average. Phishing remained the most prevalent threat, serving as an entry point for fraud, malware, and infostealer campaigns. Cloud-based organizations were particularly vulnerable, with 5.5 out of every 1,000 individuals in the region clicking on phishing links monthly double the global average. Cloud applications accounted for 28% of phishing clicks, compounded by risks like a Microsoft 365 Android app flaw that exposed authentication tokens.
Ransomware and DDoS attacks surged, with over 135,000 ransomware incidents in 2024 targeting sectors such as real estate, manufacturing, and financial services. DDoS attacks rose by 92% year-over-year, with government websites hit early in 2024 and financial institutions facing later waves. Trend Micro data shared with Interpol’s Cyber Fusion Centre recorded 6.5 billion cyber threats mitigated in the region in 2024 alone.
AI is accelerating cybercrime, enabling more convincing phishing lures, deepfakes, and social engineering attacks. Traditional awareness training struggles to counter AI-generated scams, which are becoming increasingly personalized. Discussions about deepfakes on cybercriminal forums and Southeast Asian Telegram channels increased by 600% between February and June 2024, signaling growing criminal interest in impersonation tools.
Law enforcement faces challenges, including gaps in forensic tools, training, and technical capacity, particularly in cross-border investigations. While regional coordination remains a work in progress, the report underscores the need for organizations to adapt defenses such as refining phishing tests for AI-generated lures and securing cloud access to address evolving threats.
Source: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-interpol-cybercrime-report-apac/
Trend Micro cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/trend-micro
Microsoft cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/microsoft
"id": "TREMIC1782426560",
"linkid": "trend-micro, microsoft",
"type": "Vulnerability",
"date": "1/2024",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'industry': ['government',
'financial services',
'real estate',
'manufacturing',
'technology'],
'location': 'Asia-Pacific and South Pacific (18 member '
'countries)',
'type': ['government',
'financial institutions',
'real estate',
'manufacturing',
'cloud-based organizations']}],
'attack_vector': ['phishing links',
'cloud application vulnerabilities',
'Microsoft 365 Android app flaw'],
'data_breach': {'personally_identifiable_information': 'Yes',
'sensitivity_of_data': 'High (authentication tokens, PII)',
'type_of_data_compromised': ['authentication tokens',
'personally identifiable '
'information']},
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2026-06-17',
'description': "Interpol's 2025/2026 Asia and South Pacific Cyber Threat "
'Assessment highlights a surge in cybercrime across 18 member '
'countries, with phishing, ransomware, DDoS attacks, and '
'AI-enabled scams dominating threats. Over half of the '
'surveyed nations reported cybercrime constituting 30% of '
'national crime. Cloud-based organizations were particularly '
'vulnerable, with phishing and ransomware incidents rising '
'sharply.',
'impact': {'identity_theft_risk': 'High (due to phishing and infostealer '
'campaigns)',
'operational_impact': 'Significant disruption to real estate, '
'manufacturing, and financial services '
'sectors',
'systems_affected': ['cloud applications',
'government websites',
'financial institutions']},
'investigation_status': 'Ongoing (regional assessment)',
'lessons_learned': 'Organizations need to adapt defenses to counter '
'AI-generated scams, refine phishing tests, and secure '
'cloud access. Law enforcement requires improved forensic '
'tools, training, and cross-border coordination.',
'motivation': ['financial gain', 'data exfiltration', 'disruption'],
'post_incident_analysis': {'corrective_actions': ['Enhance phishing awareness '
'training for AI-generated '
'lures',
'Improve cloud security '
'measures',
'Strengthen regional law '
'enforcement collaboration'],
'root_causes': ['Phishing as primary entry point',
'Cloud application vulnerabilities',
'AI-enabled scams',
'Lack of cross-border law '
'enforcement coordination']},
'ransomware': {'data_encryption': 'Yes'},
'recommendations': ['Refine phishing tests to address AI-generated lures',
'Secure cloud access and applications',
'Enhance cross-border law enforcement coordination',
'Improve forensic tools and technical capacity'],
'references': [{'source': 'Interpol 2025/2026 Asia and South Pacific Cyber '
'Threat Assessment'},
{'source': 'Trend Micro data shared with Interpol’s Cyber '
'Fusion Centre'}],
'response': {'third_party_assistance': 'Trend Micro (data shared with '
'Interpol’s Cyber Fusion Centre)'},
'title': 'Interpol Report: Cybercrime Surges in Asia-Pacific (2024-2025)',
'type': ['phishing', 'ransomware', 'DDoS', 'AI-enabled scams'],
'vulnerability_exploited': ['Microsoft 365 Android app flaw',
'cloud application misconfigurations']}