TALKING POINT

The insights, from the period January 2024 to March 2025, revealed that cyber-scam techniques such as phishing have emerged as the most widespread and financially damaging form of cybercrime, with 33 % of countries reporting over 10,000 cases.

Neal Jetton, INTERPOL Cybercrime Director, said that the results highlight a rapidly evolving cyberthreat landscape across these locations, where cybercriminals are leveraging Artificial Intelligence, Ransomware-as-a-Service models and sophisticated social engineering techniques on an industrial scale.

According to Jetton, strengthening operational cooperation, information sharing and cyber-resilience remains essential to protecting communities and critical infrastructure.

Unprecedented growth in Internet connectivity, mobile banking, cloud computing and digital financial services has, unsurprisingly, intensified cybercriminal activity across the region and is reflected in the report.

Key trends included a spike in ransomware-related attacks in 2024, which affected critical sectors such as real estate, manufacturing and financial services. In the same year, DDOS attacks rose by 92 % compared to the previous year.

Discussions around deepfakes was a popular talking point on cybercriminal forums and an alarming number of individuals clicked on phishing links monthly – roughly twice the global average. System intrusions accounted for approximately 80 % of all data breaches in 2024 with malware and ransomware present in 83 % and 51 % of cases respectively.

Between January and December 2024, more than 6.5 billion cyber threats were detected and mitigated across the Asia and South Pacific region, according to data provided by TrendAI – one of several private sector partners working with INTERPOL’ s cybercrime directorate.

Between January and December 2024, more than 6.5 billion cyber threats were detected and mitigated across the Asia and South Pacific region.

Law enforcement agencies across the region continue to face significant operational and technical challenges, with the survey highlighting gaps in specialised forensic tools, limited access to targeted cybercrime training and insufficient technical capacity.

The report also highlights disparities in cybersecurity maturity across the region – while some countries have comparatively advanced cybersecurity frameworks and institutional capabilities, many developing countries and small island states continue to face significant resource and capacity constraints.

Jurisdictions with fragmented enforcement structures, limited technical capabilities and weaker legislation remain particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

Enhancing cybercrime responses

Despite these challenges, most member countries surveyed reported taking proactive steps including public awareness campaigns and upskilling of law enforcement personnel. In addition, 66.7 % have adopted AI tools and systems for predictive analysis, digital forensics and threat detection.

Several member countries are also strengthening national cybercrime legislation and investing in cybercrime response capabilities, digital forensics infrastructure and specialised law enforcement units to address increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

To further strengthen the region’ s cybercrime response capabilities, the report proposes a number of measures including improving cloud security, educating users about emerging threats, strengthening responses to cyber incidents and improving real-time intelligence sharing. The report also emphasises a whole-of-society approach involving law enforcement, governments, industry and civil society working together to detect, disrupt and deter cybercriminal activity across borders. •

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