Akamai report shows nearly 250% increase in APJ region financial services industry web application and API attacks

The report points out that financial centers including Australia and Japan are the main targets.

May 24, 2023 – Akamai Technologies, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as: Akamai), a cloud service provider responsible for supporting and protecting online life, recently released a new State of the Internet report, the report title "Getting Through Security Vulnerabilities: Application and API Attacks on the Rise . " This report shows that the financial services industry is still the most attacked industry in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), with the increase in web application and API attacks hitting a record high, with the number of attacks increasing by 248% over the previous year.

The volume of attacks on web applications and APIs in the financial industry in the APJ region increased by 248%, significantly higher than the global increase of nearly 169%. This shows that financial services companies in the region are the main targets of attackers. As attackers increase the volume of attacks, The frequency and sophistication of attacks puts these businesses at serious risk.  

Reuben Koh, director of security technology and strategy for Asia Pacific and Japan at Akamai, explained: “Financial services companies in the APJ region continue to invest heavily in advancing digital transformation and expanding customer-centric digital products and services, and attack volume has surged by nearly 250% with these Capital investment is closely related. This is a serious issue for financial services companies because as digitization increases, the overall attack surface will expand and attackers will have more opportunities to launch cyber attacks.”

The total number of web application and API attacks has increased steadily over the past 24 months across the APJ region, averaging approximately 10 million attacks per day. Additionally, Akamai observed more than 60 million daily attacks, indicating that businesses in the region continue to be at risk from high-intensity, highly targeted attacks. 

The report shows that local file inclusion (LFI) attacks have become the most common attack vector in the APJ region, with a year-on-year increase of approximately 154%, and the number of attacks exceeds XSS and SQLi attacks. In an LFI attack, an attacker exploits insecure coding practices or actual vulnerabilities on a web server to remotely execute code or access locally stored sensitive information. 

PHP-based web servers are particularly vulnerable to LFI attacks because existing methods bypass their input filters. Most popular websites, including Facebook, WordPress, and Wikipedia, run PHP, which increases the likelihood that attackers can exploit LFI vulnerabilities. The growth of LFI attacks in the APJ region shows that attackers are constantly improving their attack techniques and shifting their goals to exploit consumer behavior in order to obtain greater rewards.

In addition, Akamai's report also revealed differentiated trends in web attacks and API attack patterns in the local market in the APJ region. details as follows:

● The top three industries experiencing the most web application and API attacks in the APJ region in 2022 are financial services (2 billion), commerce (980 million), and digital media (393 million).

● Australia and Japan are recognized as well-known financial centers in the APJ region. These two countries have the largest increases in web application and API attacks in the financial industry, with year-on-year increases of 259% and 1,635% respectively. 

● However, Australia experienced a continued increase in web application and API attacks in 2022, along with several big bang attacks, while the type of attacks Japan experienced were primarily big bang attacks. This suggests that in both countries, attackers are targeting specific industries and businesses as their primary targets. 

● In 2022, attacks on Japan's high-tech industry will also increase by more than 116% year-on-year. This is likely related to Japan's large investment in R&D and advanced technology.

● India’s retail and commercial industries have experienced more persistent and stable attack activities, with web application and API attacks increasing by nearly 90% year-on-year in 2022. India’s boom in online retail and growing e-commerce spending have made the industry a lucrative target for cybercriminals. Attacks on India’s financial services industry increased by 56% year-on-year.

● From 2021 to 2022, the top three industries with the fastest increase in APJ area attacks are financial services (248%), manufacturing (162%), and the public sector (139%).

Koh said: “Cybercriminals continue to exploit web applications and APIs to launch attacks, and in order to obtain the maximum return on investment, they will continue to use new attack techniques. The financial industry, manufacturing and commerce in the APJ region are centers of digital innovation , and therefore become a very profitable target for attackers.”

He concluded: "The current threat landscape shows that attackers are moving towards remote code execution and new attack vectors have emerged, including server-side request forgery (SSRF), server-side template injection (SSTI) and server-side code injection. Due to the attacks Attackers will continue to launch endless attacks, and enterprises need to keep abreast of the latest attack trends and best practices in order to adjust defense strategies in a timely manner according to the situation.”