Cybersecurity Today Year-End Review: The Highs and Lows of Cybersecurity in 2025
Dec 20, 2025
Tammy Harper, a security researcher known for her expertise in ransomware, joins Laura Payne, a cybersecurity professional focused on incident trends, along with David Shipley, a cybersecurity practitioner, and John Pinard, head of IT operations at a credit union. They discuss alarming trends in ransomware payments and the clever rise of phishing attacks, particularly MFA vulnerabilities. The panel also examines AI's growing dual role in both enhancing security measures and facilitating cybercrime, highlighting the crucial need for community support and empathy in cybersecurity.
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Piracy Is Back And Weaponized
- Fake torrents and piracy are resurging as streaming costs push users back to illicit sources.
- Attackers now embed malware in torrents and revive old tricks like malicious codecs to compromise users.
Ransomware Is Shifting To Data Extortion
- CLOP and other ransomware groups increasingly focus on data exfiltration and extortion rather than encryption.
- Campaign cadence is accelerating with back-to-back targeting of enterprise software like Oracle EBS and file-sharing stacks.
Payments Fewer But Larger
- On-chain research shows ransomware payments are decreasing in frequency but increasing in total amount.
- Attackers invest in exfiltration infrastructure and data distribution to maximize returns from fewer, larger payouts.