The global financial cost of cybercrime is staggering—estimated to exceed $10 trillion annually by 2025, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. Ransomware payments, data recovery, lost productivity, and reputational harm contribute to this growing toll.

The top threat categories shaping 2025, according to a Finextra article, include:

1. AI-Powered Phishing & Social Engineering: Phishing remains the most common entry point. But now, attackers personalise emails, texts, and voice calls using AI to mimic writing styles, making fraudulent communications nearly indistinguishable from authentic ones.

2. Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS): Criminal networks now offer ransomware toolkits to affiliates, democratising cybercrime. Attackers can encrypt data and demand double extortion—threatening both data destruction and public leaks.

3. Deepfake and Impersonation Fraud: Deepfakes can replicate voices or faces with near-perfect precision, enabling fraudulent video calls, fake press statements, or misleading “evidence”.

4. Cloud & API Exploits: Poorly secured cloud configurations, excessive permissions, and overlooked API vulnerabilities are frequent breach points.

5. Supply Chain Attacks: Instead of attacking a well-defended enterprise directly, hackers compromise a smaller vendor or software provider within its ecosystem. This indirect method was exemplified by incidents like SolarWinds and MOVEit.

6. Identity-Based Attacks: Credential theft and session hijacking continue to rise, as attackers exploit single sign-on (SSO) systems and weak MFA implementations.

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