A recent IBM highlights the alarming trend of cyberattacks targeting the manufacturing sector in the Asia-Pacific region, with the manufacturing industry taking center stage in 2023, accounting for 46% of attacks.

The finance, insurance and transportation sectors followed with 12% each. Education ranked third with 8%.
Read more: Google: Officially creates cybersecurity center in Japan
The IBM report highlighted APAC's growth as the third-highest concentration region globally, accounting for 23% of incidents in 2023.
“While ‘AI attacks’ are attracting more attention due to the rise of genetic artificial intelligence in today’s environment, the biggest security in the Asia-Pacific region remains known vulnerabilities that have not been patched,” Catherine Lian, general manager and chief technology, IBM Asean, said in a press release. “Additional focus should also be placed on the region’s critical infrastructure and key industries, such as manufacturing, finance and insurance, and transportation, with stress testing and well-prepared incident response plans.”
IBM X-Force, IBM Consulting's security services division, reports that phishing remains the leading intrusion method in the region, accounting for 36% of incidents in 2023, with exploits focused on public applications following at 35%.
Malware now appears as the most common threat actor, accounting for 45% of attacks. Ransomware attacks account for 17%, while infotealers follow at 10%.
The impact of these attacks on the region was significant, with data theft each accounting for 27% of incidents. Extortion, data corruption and data breaches followed closely, each accounting for 20% of incidents.
“Exploiting user identity is a preferred tool for global threat actors, increasing the need for more effective strategies to control access to information. This makes it necessary to adopt a holistic approach to security in the era of genetic AI,” said Catherine Lian.

See more: IBM Consulting & Palo Alto Networks join forces to strengthen cybersecurity
Looking ahead, IBM X-Force predicts that once genetic AI takes hold, as has happened with previous technological changes, it will become a prime target for cybercriminals. Therefore, IBM recommends that enterprises strengthen their security measures to effectively protect their AI models and infrastructure.
Source: backendnews
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