Cyberattacks on organisations in Singapore rose 22% year on year in March, according to Check Point Research.
The increase contrasted with a 5% global decline in average weekly attacks.
Worldwide, organisations faced an average of 1,995 cyberattacks per week during the month, based on the company’s threat intelligence data. In Singapore, the figure was 2,695 attacks per organisation per week, placing the city-state above the global average and against the broader trend.
The figures indicate continued pressure on Singapore’s digital economy even as total attack volumes eased globally. The pattern suggests attackers are focusing on markets with dense digital activity and broad online exposure.
In Singapore, Consumer Goods & Services was the most targeted sector, followed by Government, Business Services and Financial Services.
All four sectors recorded attack volumes above global levels, pointing to a concentration on parts of the economy that handle large volumes of transactions, personal data and public services.
Global View
Globally, Education remained the most attacked industry, with an average of 4,632 weekly attacks per organisation. Government followed with 2,582, and Telecommunications ranked third with 2,554.
Hospitality, Travel & Recreation was one of the few sectors to record an increase, with attacks rising 30% from a year earlier. Check Point linked the shift to seasonal travel demand, which tends to increase digital transactions and reliance on third-party systems.
By region, Latin America recorded the highest attack volume at 3,054 attacks per organisation per week, up 9% year on year. APAC ranked second at 3,026 weekly attacks, down 4%, followed by Africa at 2,722, down 22%.
AI Exposure
Alongside conventional attacks, risks linked to generative artificial intelligence tools are becoming more prominent inside organisations. Check Point’s data showed one in every 28 GenAI prompts submitted from enterprise environments carried a high risk of sensitive data leakage, affecting 91% of organisations that regularly use such tools.
A further 17% of prompts contained potentially sensitive information. The average organisation used nine different GenAI tools during the month, while the typical user generated 78 prompts.
That level of use suggests AI tools are being woven into everyday work faster than many companies are putting controls in place. For security teams, the concern is that employees may expose internal data through routine use of chatbots and assistants even when no conventional breach has occurred.
“March’s results may look like a breather, but attackers haven’t stepped back – they’ve simply shifted gears, particularly in highly digitised hubs like Singapore,” said Omer Dembinsky, Data Research Manager at Check Point Research.
“As GenAI becomes a default workplace tool and ransomware groups maintain a steady operational tempo, the most resilient organisations will be those that treat prevention as a system – reducing exposure and enforcing governance. The 22% rise in weekly attacks on Singapore over the last six months is a reminder that local prevention must be AI-powered and fast-moving to stop threats before they spread.”
Ransomware Pressure
Ransomware remained one of the most disruptive threats in March, with 672 publicly reported incidents. That was down 8% from a year earlier but up 7% from February, indicating a month-on-month increase.
Business Services accounted for 35% of ransomware incidents, making it the most affected sector. Consumer Goods & Services followed with 14%, and Industrial Manufacturing accounted for 13%.
A relatively small number of groups continued to dominate reported ransomware activity. Qilin accounted for 20% of incidents in March, followed by Akira with 12% and DragonForce with 8%.
Even so, the wider market remained crowded. A total of 47 different ransomware groups publicly impacted organisations during the month, a sign that established operators continue to dominate while smaller actors remain active across sectors and regions.
For Singapore, the combination of higher attack volumes, pressure on consumer-facing and public sectors, and wider use of GenAI tools leaves organisations dealing with both established cybercrime and quieter forms of internal data exposure.
Check Point’s figures put Singapore among the markets moving against the global trend, with 2,695 weekly attacks per organisation compared with a worldwide average of 1,995.
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