Ransomware’s new frontier: Extortion attacks evolve in Asia Pacific

According to Akamai Technologies, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business online, bad actors are using a new quadruple extortion tactic in ransomware campaigns, while double extortion remains the most common approach.

The Akamai State of the Internet report Ransomware Report 2025: Building Resilience Amid a Volatile Threat Landscape notes that the emerging quadruple extortion includes DDoS attacks and pressure on third parties such as customers, partners or media to increase the pressure on the victim.

With ransomware accounting for more than half of the total data breaches in the Asia Pacific region in 2024, APAC enterprises must scrutinise and strengthen their cyber defences to minimise vulnerabilities and ensure business resilience. The report builds on the existing model of double extortion, in which attackers encrypt a victim’s data and threaten to leak it publicly if the ransom is not paid. These insights come from the publication cited by Intelligent CISO.