2025 IBM X-Force Threat Index: Large-Scale Credential Theft Escalates, Threat Actors Pivot to Stealthier Tactics

07.08.2025 - 18:06:07

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Nearly half of all cyberattacks resulted in stolen data or credentialsIdentity abuse was the preferred entry pointAsia Pacific represented more than one-third of attacks in 2024in a framework for building AI agents will become more frequent. With adoption set to grow in 2025, so will the incentives for adversaries to develop specialized attack toolkits targeting AI, making it imperative that businesses secure the AI pipeline from the start, including the data, the model, the usage, and the infrastructure surrounding the models.Asia and North America most attacked regions. Collectively accounting for nearly 60% of all attacks that IBM X-Force responded to globally, Asia (34%) and North America (24%) experienced more cyberattacks than any other region in 2024.Manufacturing felt the brunt of ransomware attacks. For the fourth consecutive year, manufacturing was the most attacked industry. Facing the highest number of ransomware cases last year, the return on investment for encryption holds strong for this sector due to its extremely low tolerance for downtime.Linux threats. In collaboration with Red Hat Insights, IBM X-Force found that more than half of Red Hat Enterprise Linux customers' environments had at least one critical CVE unaddressed, and 18% faced five or more vulnerabilities. At the same time, IBM X-Force found the most active ransomware families (e.g., Akira, Clop, Lockbit, and RansomHub) are now supporting both Windows and Linux versions of their ransomware.

Additional Resources

Download a copy of the 2025 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index.Sign up for the 2025 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence webinar on Tuesday, April 22nd at 11:00 am ET.Connect with the IBM X-Force team for a personalized review of the findings.Read?more about the report's top findings in this?IBM blog.

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