2025 Cyber Threat Landscape: What SonicWall’s Annual Report Means for Your Business

Key Takeaways

• The 2025 cyber threat landscape is moving faster, with 75% of exploits occurring within four days of proof-of-concept disclosure and 61% occurring within 48 hours.
• Ransomware creates consequences far beyond ransom payments, with the broader impact averaging $4.91 million per incident.
• Business email compromise represented nearly one-third of reported cyber events in 2024, up from 9% in 2023.
• Artificial intelligence is helping attackers scale campaigns while enabling security teams to identify and prioritize emerging threats.
• Organizations need integrated IT and cybersecurity operations, continuous visibility, layered protection, and clear accountability to respond effectively.

The 2025 cyber threat landscape shows how quickly security risks are evolving and how little time organizations have to respond. The 2025 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, released February 24, 2025, highlights shrinking exploitation windows, rising ransomware costs, increased business email compromise, and expanding threats involving artificial intelligence and connected devices.

Related: The 2025 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report

Compiled by SonicWall’s Capture Labs threat researchers, the report is more than a review of 2024. It is a clear call for organizations and their managed service providers to reduce exposure, strengthen resilience, and act with speed and precision.

The findings below explain the most significant threats and what they mean for your organization.

Why Is Speed Critical in the 2025 Cyber Threat Landscape?

SonicWall titled its report “The Need for Speed” because attackers are exploiting vulnerabilities faster than many organizations can remediate them.

SonicWall reports that 75% of exploits occur within four days of a proof-of-concept disclosure, with 61% occurring within 48 hours.

Ransomware groups such as LockBit and Cl0p have compressed that window even further. These groups launched attacks within 24 hours of vulnerabilities such as CVE-2024-27198, the JetBrains TeamCity authentication bypass, becoming public.

Douglas McKee, SonicWall’s Executive Director of Threat Research, summarizes the challenge directly: “Threat actors are exploiting vulnerabilities at lightning speed, while organizations take far too long to respond.”

What does this mean for our clients:

The time between vulnerability disclosure and exploitation is now measured in hours, not weeks. Organizations that depend on manual patching, fragmented monitoring, or unclear ownership may not respond quickly enough.

Logically combines real-time monitoring, proactive patch management, and expert oversight to help identify and address risk before isolated vulnerabilities become business-disrupting incidents. Integrated IT and security workflows also reduce delays caused when separate teams or providers must coordinate a response.

Why Is Ransomware a Business Continuity Risk?

Ransomware continued to cause significant disruption in 2024, with SonicWall reporting a 25% increase toward the end of the year. Groups such as Fog, Akira, and SafePay contributed to the surge.

The average ransom payment reached $850,700. However, the broader business impact, including downtime, recovery, and operational disruption, averaged $4.91 million per incident.

SonicWall estimates that its defenses helped organizations avoid a potential 68 days of downtime during 2024, protecting approximately 19% of at-risk revenue.

The consequences were especially severe in U.S. healthcare, where ransomware was associated with 95% of reported breaches and incidents affected 198 million people.

Double and triple extortion tactics have also become more common. These attacks increase pressure by combining encryption, data theft, and additional threats directed at customers or business partners.

What does this mean for our clients:

Ransomware is not simply a security event. It threatens revenue, business continuity, compliance, reputation, and customer trust.

Logically helps organizations strengthen resilience through secure backups, network segmentation, continuous monitoring, and layered detection and response capabilities, including endpoint detection and response, managed detection and response, and extended detection and response.

These controls can reduce the likelihood of an incident while improving your ability to contain threats and recover quickly.

For healthcare organizations, legacy systems, connected medical technology, compliance obligations, and limited internal security resources can create gaps across the environment. Logically brings IT operations and cybersecurity together under one accountable model to improve visibility, coordinate response, and reduce exposure across facilities and systems.

How Is Business Email Compromise Changing?

Business email compromise, or BEC, represented nearly one-third of reported cyber events in 2024, according to the report. That is a significant increase from 9% in 2023.

Generative AI is making these attacks more convincing. Threat actors can create polished phishing messages that closely resemble legitimate business communications, increasing the likelihood that employees will trust fraudulent requests.

The report describes an incident in which attackers used a compromised, trusted account to deceive an executive at a consulting firm into providing credentials. Those credentials were then used to expand the attack.

What does this mean for our clients:

The increase from 9% to nearly one-third of reported events signals a major shift in email-based risk. Traditional filters and employee vigilance alone may not identify attacks that use trusted accounts, credible language, and relevant business context.

Logically uses intelligent threat detection to identify suspicious activity, while security awareness training helps employees recognize behavioral and contextual warning signs that technology may not catch on its own.

This combination of technology and human judgment is essential. Since January 2023, Logically has used a unified SaaS monitoring solution to prevent more than 320 business email compromise incidents.

How Is AI Affecting Cyberattacks and Cyber Defense?

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the threat landscape for attackers and defenders.

SonicWall reported a 452% increase in server-side request forgery attacks during 2024. AI-enabled tools are making it easier for attackers to automate exploit development, scale campaigns, and adjust tactics to evade detection.

AI is also improving defensive capabilities. SonicWall’s Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection identified 210,258 previously unknown malware variants during the year, averaging 637 newly detected threats per day.

AI is lowering the barrier to entry for attackers while helping security teams process greater volumes of data and identify threats earlier.

What does this mean for our clients:

AI can accelerate detection, but speed alone does not guarantee the right response. Security decisions still require context, experience, and accountability.

Logically has incorporated AI into its Security Operations Center as a Service platform for several years. AI-assisted monitoring helps surface patterns and prioritize signals at scale, while experienced security professionals direct analysis, response, and remediation.

This AI-assisted, human-led model helps your organization respond to emerging threats such as server-side request forgery and AI-enhanced business email compromise without relying on opaque, fully automated decisions.

How Are IoT Devices and Everyday Files Expanding Risk?

The Internet of Things continues to expand the attack surface. SonicWall blocked more than 17 million attacks targeting IP cameras in 2024, an increase of 124%.

Vulnerabilities such as the Hikvision IP Camera Command Injection flaw, CVE-2021-36260, demonstrate how unmanaged or poorly segmented devices can expose broader technology environments, including systems supporting critical operations.

Common file types also remain effective attack vectors. SonicWall found that 38% of malicious files were HTML-based and 22% were PDFs. These files may contain malicious links, embedded code, or QR codes that direct users to phishing sites.

What does this mean for our clients:

IoT devices and familiar file formats create risk because they are often trusted, overlooked, or managed separately from the rest of the environment.

Logically helps secure IoT environments through firmware management, access restrictions, continuous monitoring, and network segmentation. Segmentation limits lateral movement and reduces the likelihood that a compromised device can provide access to critical systems.

Layered threat protection also helps identify and block malicious files before they reach users or disrupt operations. Together, these measures strengthen resilience while supporting the availability and performance your business depends on.

Why Are MSPs Essential Cybersecurity Partners?

SonicWall CEO Bob VanKirk emphasizes the importance of collaboration: “SMBs and enterprises shouldn’t go it alone in this fight.”

The report reinforces the role of managed service providers as strategic security partners, particularly for organizations that lack the staffing, tools, or expertise required to monitor and protect complex environments around the clock.

However, adding another provider is not enough. When IT operations and cybersecurity remain fragmented, organizations can still face visibility gaps, delayed response, and unclear accountability.

What does this mean for our clients:

Organizations need more than separate tools and disconnected vendors. They need one accountable partner that understands how technology performance, cybersecurity, compliance, and business risk affect one another.

Logically unifies managed IT and security within a single operating model supported by 24/7/365 monitoring, shared visibility, integrated workflows, and expert-led response.

This approach helps reduce blind spots, accelerate resolution, and eliminate confusion about who owns the issue and the outcome. SonicWall threat intelligence strengthens this model by helping Logically identify emerging risks and take proactive action across customer environments.

Strengthen Your Response to the 2025 Cyber Threat Landscape

The 2025 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report presents a clear picture of a fast-moving and increasingly sophisticated threat environment.

Exploitation windows are shrinking. Ransomware continues to threaten revenue and continuity. Business email compromise is becoming more convincing. AI is increasing the speed and scale of attacks. IoT devices and everyday file types are creating additional paths into the business.

Responding effectively requires continuous visibility, coordinated IT and security operations, layered protection, and experienced professionals who can turn threat intelligence into decisive action.

Logically was built to close the gap between IT operations and cybersecurity. By combining AI-assisted monitoring with human-led expertise, Logically helps your organization reduce risk, respond faster, and strengthen resilience across the technology environments your business depends on.

Close the Gap with Logically, the Next-Gen MSP.

By Logically Cybersecurity Expert, Zack Finstad, Vice President of Cybersecurity

Last updated July 2026

FAQs

What is the 2025 cyber threat landscape?

The 2025 cyber threat landscape includes rapidly exploited vulnerabilities, ransomware, business email compromise, AI-assisted attacks, IoT threats, and malicious files. These risks require organizations to improve detection, response speed, visibility, and operational coordination.

How quickly are attackers exploiting new vulnerabilities?

SonicWall reports that 75% of exploits occur within four days of a proof-of-concept disclosure, with 61% occurring within 48 hours. Some ransomware groups have launched attacks within 24 hours of a vulnerability becoming public.

What is the average cost of a ransomware incident?

The average ransom payment reached $850,700. The broader impact, including downtime, recovery, and operational disruption, averaged $4.91 million per incident.

How common was business email compromise in 2024?

Business email compromise represented nearly one-third of reported cyber events in 2024, according to SonicWall. That figure increased from 9% in 2023.

How is artificial intelligence being used in cyberattacks?

Attackers use AI to automate exploit development, create more convincing phishing communications, scale campaigns, and adjust tactics to evade detection. Defenders also use AI to process security data, identify patterns, and detect previously unknown threats.

Why are IoT devices a cybersecurity risk?

IoT devices may run outdated firmware, use weak access controls, or operate outside centralized security oversight. If compromised, they may provide attackers with a path to other systems unless the network is properly segmented.

What should organizations look for in a managed IT and security provider?

Organizations should evaluate whether the provider offers continuous monitoring, integrated IT and cybersecurity operations, proactive patching, clear accountability, layered detection and response, secure backups, and expert-led incident response.