2026-06-22 00:00
← BackA new report from INTERPOL has revealed a "dramatic increase" in cybercrime in Asia and the South Pacific, fueled by rapid digitalization, internet penetration, new technologies, organized criminal networks, and a disparity in cybersecurity maturity. According to INTERPOL's 2025/2026 Asia and South Pacific Cyberthreat Assessment Report, phishing has emerged as the most widespread and financially damaging form of cybercrime, with a third of countries in the region reporting more than 10,000 cases between January 2024 and March 2025. In all, over half of INTERPOL member countries have reported that cybercrime accounted for no less than 30% of all crimes recorded nationally. "The findings in this report highlight a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape across Asia and the South Pacific, where cybercriminals are leveraging artificial intelligence, ransomware-as-a-service models and sophisticated social engineering techniques on an industrial scale," Neal Jetton, INTERPOL Cybercrime Director,saidin a statement. "As digital adoption accelerates across the region, strengthening operational cooperation, information sharing, and cyber resilience remains essential to protecting communities and critical infrastructure." The growing sophistication of cybercriminal tradecraft has led to a surge in ransomware attacks, as well as deepfake and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven scams that involve impersonating business executives to authorize fraudulent transactions. The region is...
A new report from INTERPOL has revealed a "dramatic increase" in cybercrime in Asia and the South Pacific, fueled by rapid digitalization, internet penetration, new technologies, organized criminal networks, and a disparity in cybersecurity maturity. According to INTERPOL's 2025/2026 Asia and South Pacific Cyberthreat Assessment Report, phishing has emerged as the most widespread and financially damaging form of cybercrime, with a third of countries in the region reporting more than 10,000 cases between January 2024 and March 2025. In all, over half of INTERPOL member countries have reported that cybercrime accounted for no less than 30% of all crimes recorded nationally. "The findings in this report highlight a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape across Asia and the South Pacific, where cybercriminals are leveraging artificial intelligence, ransomware-as-a-service models and sophisticated social engineering techniques on an industrial scale," Neal Jetton, INTERPOL Cybercrime Director,saidin a statement. "As digital adoption accelerates across the region, strengthening operational cooperation, information sharing, and cyber resilience remains essential to protecting communities and critical infrastructure." The growing sophistication of cybercriminal tradecraft has led to a surge in ransomware attacks, as well as deepfake and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven scams that involve impersonating business executives to authorize fraudulent transactions. The region is estimated to have registered more than 135,000 ransomware-related attacks in 2024. A vast majority of the incidents impacted the real estate, manufacturing, and financial services sectors. This has been complemented by theindustrialization of cyber-enabled scamsby transnationalorganized crime syndicatesin countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines, who have set up extensive scam centers that make use of forced labor to carry out investment scams, preying on people across the world after building friendly or romantic relationships with them.
"Organized crime in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos used deepfakes in 'romance baiting' scams, blending AI personas and social engineering to fuel $37 billion in regional cybercrime losses," INTERPOL said. Some of the other regional trends captured by the report include the following - "In response, law enforcement organizations across the region – supported by INTERPOL – are scaling up joint efforts to combat cybercrime," INTERPOL said. "These include the coordination of operations against cybercriminal infrastructure, collaborative investigations, specialized training initiatives, and the creation of policies to improve cyber resilience." Learn how to uncover hidden AI use, see what data it can access, map every AI action to a human owner, and apply practical governance without heavy infrastructure changes. Learn how to contain Mythos-style AI attacks with practical Zero Trust controls that reduce exposure, stop lateral movement, and limit risk. Get the latest news, expert insights, exclusive resources, and strategies from industry leaders, all for free.