Asia-Pacific region, which now accounts for more than half of the world’s Internet users and is the largest region globally in terms of e-commerce sales, has seen a huge rise in cybercrime as well, according to a latest study.

“Spurred by massive economic growth, the Asia-Pacific region continues its rapid digital transformation. Cybercrime in the region is also growing with attacks becoming more organized and sophisticated,” states the 2017 APAC Cybercrime Report by ThreatMetrix.

Further, China, India, Japan, and Vietnam are now some of the top cybercrime hotspots in the world, with China ranking second behind the US as the largest source of global threats.

The Asia-Pacific region continues to demonstrate its susceptibility to malware, with Indonesia, India, and the Philippines among the top countries with the highest number of malware infections, says the report.

The study found that online banking is a key target as fraudsters attempt to monetise stolen and spoofed identity credentials resulting from numerous data breaches around the world.

Interestingly, as the holiday season approaches, along with shoppers even cybercriminals attempt to capitalise on the online shopping frenzies. “Nearly 260,000 daily attacks were detected and stopped in real-time. This has increased 105% since 2015, illustrating the Asia-Pacific region’s increased vulnerability to cyber attacks,” said the report.

The study also found that the APAC region continues to see tremendous growth with overall transaction volume increasing 62% over the previous year. Mobile transactions make up 46% of overall transaction volume, and continue to grow year-on-year, increasing 56% since 2015.

Incidentally, mobile transactions now account for over half of transactions in financial services, demonstrating the popularity of mobile banking in the Asia-Pacific region. Mobile transactions also account for over half of transactions in e-commerce, reflecting the growing shift towards shopping on the move.