Just 50% of organisations in Asia feel confident in their cyber risk management and mitigation efforts, a level which is significantly below the global average of 72% and the lowest globally, according to a study by the world's biggest insurance broker Marsh.
Ransomware
One in three respondents cite ransomware and data breaches as their primary cyber risk concerns, the study found.
Ransomware remains the most prevalent threat in Asia, with 33% of respondents identifying it as their top concern. This is followed by data breaches involving the loss of non-personal confidential information (29%) and privacy breaches linked to the theft or leakage of personal data (28%), both of which pose significant risks to sensitive corporate and individual information.
AI-enabled cyberattacks
Government data across Asia highlights a sharp rise in both the frequency and sophistication of AI-enabled cyberattacks, resulting in business interruption, financial losses, and reputational damage.
The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore reported a 21% increase in ransomware incidents in 2024, driven in part by cybercriminals using AI to automate and enhance their attack methods.
In South Korea, the Ministry of Science and ICT recorded a 26% year-on-year rise in cybersecurity breaches in 2025, attributed to more sophisticated, AI-enabled hacking techniques and coordinated attacks.
Meanwhile, Japan has seen a 340% surge in advanced cyberattacks targeting government systems and critical infrastructure since 2023, making it one of the most heavily impacted markets in Asia for ransomware-related threats.
AI-driven fraud risks surge
Nine in 10 businesses across Asia Pacific expect a rise in AI-driven social engineering attacks, deepfakes and fraud, the study said.
AI-enabled fraud and deepfakes are emerging as rapidly escalating threats.
Nearly 90% of organisations anticipate an increase in social engineering attacks as advances in AI make fraud more sophisticated and scalable, lowering the barriers for criminals to manipulate employees and undermining established controls between businesses and their financial institutions.
This growing risk is already translating into tangible impacts, with 64% of organisations identifying financial loss as their primary concern.
Data from Marsh also revels that a shortage of technology skills ranks among the top five people-related risks in Asia. While 67% of organisations in the region plan to invest in cybersecurity talent, Asia Pacific continues to face the world’s largest talent gap, with an estimated 2.6m unfilled roles.
This shortfall is slowing incident response times and exacerbating security vulnerabilities.
Cyber defences rise, but risk transfer lags
Asia accounts for more than one-third of global cyber and social engineering attacks, prompting organisations to prioritise cybersecurity measures and incident preparedness—while often underinvesting in risk transfer, according to the study.
Cybersecurity technologies and solutions represent the largest share of budgets at 21%, covering areas such as threat detection, network protection, endpoint security, and continuous monitoring. This is followed closely by cyber incident response and breach management, which account for 20.6% of spending, underscoring the importance of rapid and effective response capabilities.
However, despite these investments, cyber claims notifications in Asia rose by 50% between 2022 and 2024. At the same time, cyber and commercial crime insurance makes up just 15.6% of budgets—making it the second-lowest priority in organisations’ overall cyber risk management strategies.