CrowdStrike’s 2025 APJ eCrime Landscape Report reveals a sharp rise in professionalized, AI-powered cybercriminal operations across Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ), with cyber adversaries evolving into organised enterprises utilizing scalable infrastructure and advanced tactics to conduct ransomware and data extortion attacks with unprecedented precision.
Between January 2024 and April 2025, at least 763 organisations across India, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore were listed as victims on ransomware and data leak sites, primarily targeting manufacturing, technology, and financial services sectors—the most vulnerable industries in the APJ region. Prominent ransomware groups such as OCULAR SPIDER, BITWISE SPIDER, and PUNK SPIDER dominate the threat landscape, while emerging ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operators like FunkLocker and KillSec disproportionately affect APJ countries, especially India.
Interesting to note, many ransomware groups refrain from attacking China, hinting at internal restrictions and segmented cybercriminal ecosystems. The report sheds light on robust Chinese-language underground marketplaces—including Chang’an, FreeCity, and Telegram-based hubs like Huione Guarantee—which facilitate billions in illicit transactions involving stolen credentials, malware, phishing kits, and cryptocurrency fraud despite governmental crackdowns.
Vietnam has surfaced as an emerging hotspot for cybercrime targeting social media business accounts with high advertising budgets. Local malware campaigns such as Ailurophile Stealer and FatStealer have compromised thousands of global accounts, while threat actor SOLAR SPIDER continues to target financial entities across South and Southeast Asia using phishing emails delivering ransomware and remote access trojans like JsOutProx RAT.
CrowdStrike advises that APJ organisations adopt “agentic AI” solutions to counteract AI-enhanced adversaries. The report emphasizes the critical need for secure digital identity management, extended detection and response (XDR) systems, proactive threat hunting, and cloud-native cyber protections to close visibility gaps and defend against increasingly sophisticated threats.
Ransomware and data extortion remain the most significant eCrime threats facing major APJ economies—including India, Japan, and Australia—even as cybercriminals continually innovate through underground ecosystems and leverage AI to escalate attack automation and social engineering sophistication.
