Akamai Cybersecurity research reveals 63% surge in APAC AI bot attacks

As businesses across Asia Pacific embrace AI-powered shopping and digital customer experiences, attackers are changing their tactics just as quickly. Akamai's latest cybersecurity research shows that AI bot traffic targeting commerce businesses in APAC rose by 63% in 2025, the highest increase recorded across any global region.

The findings suggest that automation is becoming a double-edged sword. While retailers, travel companies and hospitality brands are investing in AI to improve customer experiences, the same technologies are expanding the attack surface for cybercriminals.

AI Bot Traffic in APAC Commerce Is Expanding the Attack Surface

According to the report, commerce accounted for 38% of all AI bot traffic observed across industries in APAC during the second half of 2025. Retailers increasingly rely on AI-driven shopping assistants and chatbots, while travel and hospitality businesses continue expanding digital booking and loyalty platforms.

The report notes that this growing automation makes it harder to distinguish legitimate AI activity from malicious bots performing credential stuffing, scraping and API abuse. As more business services become interconnected, APIs are also emerging as critical points of exposure.

Agentic Commerce Fraud Makes Risk-Based Security More Important

The report highlights that AI-powered commerce is accelerating the shift toward agentic commerce, where automated systems handle more customer interactions. While this improves convenience, it also creates fresh opportunities for attackers.

Travel represented 22% of commerce web attacks in APAC, while APIs were involved in 25% of attacks targeting the sector. Layer 7 DDoS attacks against commerce businesses also climbed 39% during 2025, with retail accounting for more than half of API-focused attacks.

Akamai Security Report Calls for Smarter Cybersecurity Defences

According to Akamai, organisations should move beyond traditional allow-or-block security models and instead adopt risk-based cybersecurity strategies. The report recommends continuously identifying critical APIs, strengthening protection during seasonal traffic spikes and improving coordination between cybersecurity and fraud teams.

As AI becomes central to digital commerce, the report concludes that resilience must become part of everyday business operations. For organisations embracing automation, protecting customer trust may prove just as important as delivering seamless digital experiences.

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