Key Takeaways from Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report 

The threat landscape is rapidly evolving. Verizon’s newly released 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) reveals several unsettling trends in cybersecurity. Covering the period from November 1, 2023, to October 31, 2024, the latest report analyzes 12,195 confirmed data breaches, providing one of the most comprehensive views into the modern threat environment. 

Human Error Holds Steady, But Third-Party Risk Doubles 

The human element was a factor in roughly 60% of breaches, consistent with the previous year’s findings. One of the most prominent examples of this occurred in May 2024: An employee accidentally downloaded a malicious file they thought was legitimate, leading to the Ascension ransomware attack. 

But there’s a new concern rising rapidly: third-party involvement in breaches has doubled, increasing from 15% to 30%, driven by vulnerability exploits and service disruptions. This underscores the need for thorough vendor vetting, such as determining if your vendors do thorough risk analyses. In March, a business associate was fined for allegedly neglecting proper risk analysis, impacting multiple entities. Read the full story here. 

Espionage Breaches Climb 

One of the more unexpected shifts was the rise in espionage-motivated breaches, which now comprise 17% of all incidents. Many of these attacks exploited known vulnerabilities to gain initial access, highlighting the ongoing risks of running unpatched systems. 

The report notes that 28% of breaches involving state-sponsored actors were financially motivated. There has been media speculation that this may be a case of the threat actors double-dipping to pad their compensation.  

More Critical Insights from Verizon’s 2025 Report  

• Attackers exploiting vulnerabilities to gain initial access and cause security breaches have increased 34% compared to last year’s report, now accounting for 20% of breaches. 
• Ransomware appeared in 44% of breaches, up from 32% last year. 
• Ransomware payouts hit a median of $115K, but 64% of victims didn’t pay. 
• AI-powered attacks are rising—synthetic text in phishing emails doubled in two years. 
• 15% of employees used generative AI on work devices, increasing the risk of data exposure. 
• Only 54% of perimeter-device flaws were fully fixed, with average remediation taking 32 days; half remained unpatched.   

Take Steps to Stay Resilient 

Verizon’s 2025 DBIR is a reminder that the threat landscape is more complex, more interconnected, and more aggressive than ever. To stay resilient, organizations must: 

• Implement a Disaster Recovery, and Testing Plan 
• Monitor and secure third-party access and integrations with a Vendor Risk Assessment 
• Regularly conduct managed phishing testing and cybersecurity awareness training 
• Address credential management, especially in development pipelines 
• Prioritize patch management to close off exploitable vulnerabilities 

As always, a proactive security posture, visibility, and a swift response are key to data protection.