Growing cyber threats target financial institutions in APJ region: Report

The financial services sector in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region has faced a significant increase in cyberattacks, according to a report by cloud company Akamai. The report, titled 'State of the Internet,' reveals a 36% growth in web application and API attacks from Q2 2022 to Q2 2023, totaling over 3.7 billion attacks. 

Key findings from the report indicate that Local File Inclusion (LFI) remains the most common attack vector, with a staggering 92.3% of attacks targeting banks in the APJ region, posing substantial threats to both financial institutions and their customers. The report also highlights that financial organisations in APJ are increasingly relying on third-party scripts, making up 40% of their scripts, as they expand their digital presence to enhance customer experiences. 

“APJ’s financial services sector is one of the most innovative and competitive in the world. Financial institutions are increasingly turning to third-party scripts to quickly add new offerings, features, and interactive experiences for customers. However, businesses usually have limited visibility into the authenticity and potential vulnerabilities of these scripts, introducing yet another layer of risk to the business. Due to this limited visibility of risky third-party scripts, threat actors now have yet another vector to launch attacks against banks and their customers,” explained Reuben Koh, Security Technology and Strategy Director (APJ), Akamai. 

The report also reveals a significant surge in malicious bot traffic in APJ, up 128% since 2022, emphasizing the persistent threat to customer data in the financial sector. APJ ranks as the second most targeted region globally for malicious bot requests against financial services, accounting for 39.7% of all such requests worldwide. Attack methods range from website scraping to credential stuffing. 

The report highlights that web applications and APIs continue to be the preferred attack vectors in APJ, with the financial sector accounting for half of all such attacks, followed by commerce (19.99%) and social media (8.3%). 

In India, the findings of the report mirror the situation, with the financial services industry consistently being a prime target for cyberattacks. The rise in web application and API attacks is attributed to vulnerabilities like SQL injection and LFI. While SQL injection attacks remain prevalent, there is a noticeable decline. LFI attacks are on the rise due to the increased digitalisation of financial services. Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks are also a growing threat in the Indian financial sector, often accompanied by attacks on digital media and e-commerce. 

Reuben Koh told TechCircle, “We are also seeing newer attack types like LFI (Local File Inclusion) come into play and are significantly increasing. Due to the increasing digitalization of financial services, DDoS attacks are another attack type actively targeting the FSI space. Together with verticals like digital media and e-commerce, financial institutions suffer from sustained DDOS attacks regularly.” 

Australia, Singapore, and Japan emerge as the top three most targeted countries in APJ, collectively experiencing the majority of web application and API attacks. As global financial hubs, these nations remain hotspots for relentless, targeted cyberattacks. 

Koh further said, “Financial institutions must focus on securing new digital offerings, continuously educating customers on cyber hygiene best practices, and investing in frictionless security measures for users. As regulators enforce policies to strengthen cybersecurity standards, it is also important for financial services organizations to understand and account for new compliance requirements while strengthening their security posture and cyber resilience against modern cyber threats.”