SEA, a cybercrime testing ground

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the cybersecurity landscape, driving a sharp increase in identity-based attacks, including deepfake impersonation and mobile-targeted exploits, according to a new report by iProov.

The company’s 2026 Threat Intelligence Report found that injection attacks targeting iOS devices surged by 1,151 percent in the second half of 2025, contributing to a 741 percent increase for the year.

The spike highlights what experts describe as the “industrialization” of cyberattacks, where techniques once limited to sophisticated or state-backed actors are now being deployed at scale by criminal groups.

“Identity is becoming the new battleground in cybersecurity,” said Dr. Andrew Newell, iProov chief scientific officer, noting that generative AI has enabled attackers to carry out digital impersonation more efficiently and at a larger scale.

The report also flagged the growing use of deepfakes within enterprise environments, particularly in video-based interactions such as virtual meetings and remote verification processes. Advances in AI tools have made it easier to generate realistic synthetic identities using minimal source material.

Industry data cited in the report underscores the trend. Around 41 percent of organizations have experienced deepfake attacks targeting executives, while 37 percent of cybersecurity leaders reported encountering such incidents during video calls.

Southeast Asia has emerged as a key hotspot for these evolving threats, recording a 720 percent increase in attacks in the third quarter of 2025.

Analysts said the region is increasingly being used as a testing ground for new fraud techniques, including virtual camera attacks and the use of stolen identity verification data. Once refined, these methods are scaled globally, particularly in financial systems and digital platforms.

The report warned that traditional, static approaches to identity verification are no longer sufficient to counter the pace and complexity of modern threats.