Kaspersky Blocks 250,000 Ransomware Attacks in APAC in 1H26

Kaspersky blocked 250,000 ransomware attacks across APAC in the first half of 2026, while warning that AI-driven threats and supply chain attacks are becoming more sophisticated.

Kaspersky Warns of Rising Threats

Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) has warned that the cyber threat landscape across Asia Pacific (APAC) remained highly active in the first half of 2026, with threat actors increasingly using artificial intelligence and supply chain compromises to scale attacks.

Data from the Kaspersky Security Network showed that the company detected and blocked 75 million attacks originating from online resources across APAC between January and June 2026. These included 3.4 million backdoor attacks, 2.4 million password stealer attacks and 250,000 ransomware incidents.

Sergey Lozhkin, Head of APAC and META research units at Kaspersky GReAT, said declines in some attack categories should not be interpreted as a weakening threat environment, noting that attackers are increasingly using AI to automate reconnaissance, accelerate malware development and scale operations.

Globally, Advanced Persistent Threats (APT), social engineering and malware were the three leading categories of high-severity security incidents in 2025. Five of the 12 countries most targeted by APT activity were in APAC: China, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and Vietnam.Kaspersky also highlighted the growing threat posed by software supply chain attacks.

Nearly one in three organisations worldwide experienced a supply chain-related incident over the past year, while 40% of businesses in China reported exposure to such risks.

Recent incidents involving eScan, Notepad++, Daemon Tools and the widely used Axios JavaScript library demonstrated how attackers can exploit trusted software and legitimate distribution channels to compromise users.

Kaspersky said it detected 19,484 malicious open-source packages in 2025, up 37% from 14,197 in 2024. Hacktool detections also increased 11% year-on-year to 3,302.

The company urged APAC organisations to strengthen software supply chain security, adopt advanced threat detection and response solutions, and use threat intelligence and managed security services to improve cyber resilience.

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