Kaspersky’s detection systems discovered an average of 500,000 malicious files per day in 2025, marking a 7% increase compared to the previous year.
Certain types of threats saw growth globally—there was a 59% surge in password stealer detections, a 51% growth in spyware detections, and a 6% growth in backdoor detections compared to 2024.
“The current cyberthreat landscape is defined by increasingly sophisticated attacks on organizations and individuals around the world. One of the most significant revelations made by Kaspersky this year was the resurgence of the Hacking Team after its 2019 rebranding, with its commercial spyware Dante used in the ForumTroll APT campaign, incorporating zero-day exploits in Chrome and Firefox browsers.
Vulnerabilities remain the most popular way for attackers to get into corporate networks, followed by using stolen credentials – hence the rise in password stealers and spyware we see this year. Supply chain attacks are also common, including attacks on open-source software. This year the number of such attacks increased significantly, and we even saw the first widespread NPM worm Shai-Hulud,” comments Alexander Liskin, Head of Threat Research at Kaspersky.
“This increasingly complex threat landscape makes implementing robust cybersecurity strategies vital for organizations, as failure to do so can lead to months of downtime in the event of attacks. Individual users should also always use reliable security solutions; otherwise, they put not only their data and money at risk but also those of the organizations where they work.”
To stay protected, follow the recommendations below.
Individuals:
- Do not download and install applications from untrusted sources.
- Do not click on any links from unknown sources or suspicious online advertisements.
- Always use two-factor authentication when available. Create strong and unique passwords, using a mix of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and punctuation. Use a reliable password manager to help to remember them.
- Always install updates when they become available; they contain fixes for critical security issues.
- Ignore messages asking to disable security systems for the office or cybersecurity software.
Organizations:
- Always keep software updated on all the devices you use to prevent attackers from infiltrating your network by exploiting vulnerabilities.
- Do not expose remote desktop services (such as RDP) to public networks unless absolutely necessary and always use strong passwords for them.
- Use advanced security products for comprehensive visibility across all the company’s corporate infrastructure to rapidly hunt out, prioritize, investigate and neutralize complex threats and APT-like attacks.
- Back up corporate data regularly. Backups should be isolated from the network. Make sure you can quickly access the backups in an emergency if needed.
