IBM’s annual X-Force Threat Intelligence Index revealed that Asia was the region that was most targeted by cyberattacks in 2021, suffering from one in four cybersecurity incidents. Within the region, Japan, Australia, and India saw the most incidents. Server access and ransomware were among the most popular forms of attacks against the listed countries, while financial services and manufacturing organizations saw the highest volume of attacks compared to other industries. IBM reports that these industries suffered from almost 60% of cybersecurity incidents in Asia. IBM Security monitors 150 billion security events daily spanning 130 countries, using data such as network and endpoint detection devices, incident response managements, and phishing tracking to procure its data.

Japan saw a significant amount of malicious cyber activities that have been primarily attributed to the Summer Olympic Games, which were held in Tokyo last July. Asia, who received 26% of global cyberattacks, is followed by Europe and North America with 24% and 23% of attacks respectively, while the Middle East and Africa saw 14% of attacks. Latin America took on roughly 13% of global attacks. In addition, server attacks and ransomware were the most popular forms of attacks, accounting for 20% and 11% of all incidents respectively, while data theft was third at 10% and remote access trojans at 9%.

Read More: Asia most targeted region in 2021, taking on one in four cybersecurity attacks