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AI Applications Trigger Cyber Attacks in Asia Pacific and Japan

1 year ago | Cyber Security

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Jakarta, INTI – The utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in digital applications continues to grow rapidly in various sectors. However, this progress also brings new challenges, especially in the field of cybersecurity. A recent report from Akamai Technologies reveals that the adoption of AI-based applications is one of the main triggers for the increase in cyberattacks in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region.

In the report titled “State of Apps and API Security 2025: How AI Is Shifting the Digital Terrain”, Akamai noted a 73 percent spike in attacks on web applications and APIs in the APJ region during 2024. During that year, attacks totaled 51 billion, up sharply from 22 billion the previous year. This increase makes the APJ region the highest cyberattack region globally.

Attacks Increase due to Loopholes in AI Applications

The report highlights that applications relying on AI are expanding the attack surface, opening up more opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit loopholes, especially through APIs. Akamai recorded hundreds of billions of attack attempts exploiting weak points in authentication and automation systems between January 2023 and December 2024.

According to Reuben Koh, Akamai's Director of Security Technology and Strategy for APJ, many APIs developed with AI are vulnerable because they lack strong authentication systems and are often publicly accessible. He emphasized the need for adaptive security strategies as attack methods become more sophisticated.

“As threat actors scale up their attacks, both in terms of scale and sophistication, security strategies must adapt accordingly,” Reuben said in an official statement on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Targeted Countries and Industries

Based on Akamai's data, here is a list of countries in the APJ region with the highest number of web and API attacks in 2024:

  • Australia: 20.3 billion

  • India: 17.3 billion

  • Singapore: 15.9 billion

  • Japan: 6.3 billion

  • China: 6.2 billion

  • South Korea: 4.9 billion

  • New Zealand: 2.9 billion

  • Hong Kong: 2.2 billion

The two most affected industry sectors in the region were financial services (over 27 billion attacks) and commerce (over 18 billion attacks).

DDoS Layer 7: Another Looming Threat

In addition to API attacks, the APJ region is also a major target for Layer 7 Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, a type of attack that targets the application layer where direct interaction with users occurs.

Akamai recorded a 94 percent increase in Layer 7 DDoS attacks globally, reaching 7 trillion attacks from the beginning of 2023 to the end of 2024. In the APJ region alone, these attacks increased by 66 percent, with a record high in December 2024 of 504 billion attacks in a month.

Over the past two years, Layer 7 DDoS attacks in APJ totaled 7.4 trillion. Here are the countries with the highest number of attacks:

  • Singapore: 4.7 trillion

  • India: 1.1 trillion

  • South Korea: 607 billion

Digital media platforms and e-commerce are the sectors most affected by HTTP flood attack techniques, which is a method of flooding servers with access requests until services are paralyzed.

Regulations and Security Solutions

Responding to this surge in attacks, a number of countries in the APJ region have begun to tighten cybersecurity regulations. Among them:

  • Singapore expanded the scope of its cybersecurity laws.
  • Japan strengthened its national security strategy.
  • India passed the Personal and Digital Data Protection Act.
  • Australia implemented the Cybersecurity Act 2024 which includes surveillance of APIs.

Akamai advises companies and organizations to implement a “shift-left security” approach, which integrates security systems from the beginning of the software development process. In addition, strengthening API governance and implementing AI-based defenses are also considered important to deal with future threats.

Conclusion

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The surge in cyberattacks triggered by the use of AI-based applications is a serious warning for all stakeholders, from governments, industry players, to technology developers. With the increasing reliance on digital systems, cybersecurity can no longer be considered an optional extra, but rather a necessity. With stricter regulations and increasingly complex threats, organizations are required to be more proactive in building a resilient and adaptive digital defense system.

Read More: Indonesia Defense University Launches Center for Quantum Security, Strengthening National Cyber Sovereignty

 

 

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