Compared to their global counterparts, digital use and digital crime awareness are highest in Asia Pacific (APAC) according to a recent Kaspersky study. The global cybersecurity and digital privacy company highlights the need for embedded protection as digital tech usage in the region outpaces the global average.
Asians are highly online, and are also aware of the dangers in the digital world.
These are the findings of a recent B2C Pulse Survey conducted by Kaspersky Market Intelligence. Consumers in APAC are outpacing their global counterparts in terms of online shopping (80% vs 71%), digital finance (72% vs 70%), digital entertainment (70% vs 62%), and digital communication (68% vs 61%).
APAC consumers are also more concerned about digital tech usage for crime than consumers globally (35% vs 32%). The awareness is highest in Thailand (39%), followed closely by Malaysia (38%), Indonesia (35%), China (34%), India (32%), and Vietnam (31%).
“When 77% of APAC is online and digital wallets accounting for roughly 70% of online payments, cybersecurity is no longer optional. The region expects 2.11 billion mobile subscribers by 2030, which makes protecting personal data and financial transactions critical to sustaining trust in the region’s thriving digital economy,” says Choon Hong Chee, Head of Consumer Channel for APAC at Kaspersky.
Mobile threats in APAC and the need for embedded security on phones
As APAC is rapidly becoming a mobile-first digital economy, Kaspersky shared it has blocked nearly 30,000 mobile attacks against consumers in the region during the first three months of 2026.
India and Indonesia logged the highest number of mobile attacks with 18,187 and 15,163 incidents, respectively. However, this type of threat is ballooning in other APAC countries. Particularly, steep increase on a year-on-year comparison - Q1 2026 and Q1 2025 - was observed by Kaspersky telemetry in Taiwan (+373%), Sri Lanka (132%), Thailand (+127%), Bangladesh (108%), China (69%), and the Philippines (28%).
“The rapid rise in mobile attacks across multiple APAC markets is a reflection of how quickly the region’s digital habits are changing. While the nearly 30,000 mobile threats detected in just the first quarter may appear small against the scale of APAC’s digital population, they could represent only the tip of the iceberg. India and Indonesia recorded the highest volumes, but the sharp year-on-year increases seen in Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bangladesh show that mobile threats are rapidly expanding beyond the region’s largest digital economies. Unlike PCs, mobile phones are often not protected with the same level of security, despite increasingly becoming the gateway to our financial, social and professional lives. As cybercriminals follow this shift, the challenge is ensuring that mobile security evolves at the same pace as adoption,” adds Choon.
As mobile threats expand, security also needs to move closer to where consumers conduct their digital activities. One effective approach is to build protection directly into mobile applications, rather than relying solely on users to install and maintain separate security solutions on their devices.
Kaspersky Mobile Security SDK enables organisations such as banks, retailers, government services and app developers to integrate multilayered security directly into their mobile applications. The SDK provides capabilities including anti-phishing and malware detection, secure connectivity, device reputation checks, data protection and detection of remote access tools. It can also generate alerts when threats such as financial Trojans, password stealers and phishing malware are detected on a device.
This embedded approach to mobile security is particularly relevant as smartphones increasingly become the primary gateway to banking, payments, shopping and other sensitive digital services. By integrating security into the applications themselves, organisations can help provide protection without placing the entire responsibility on consumers to identify and respond to increasingly sophisticated mobile threats.
Kaspersky also offers Kaspersky Who Calls SDK, which enables organisations to integrate caller identification and reputation information into their mobile applications, helping users identify potentially suspicious or unwanted calls and numbers.
To provide additional protection against malicious and phishing websites, Kaspersky also has its Safe Web. Kaspersky Safe Web, an agentless, network-based security solution that enables broadband and mobile ISPs to scan users’ web traffic via DNS filtering technology, help users identify potentially dangerous links before they access them. It can help safeguard users across browsing, online banking, shopping and other everyday digital activities.
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