Agentic AI Will Revolutionize Cybercrime in 2025 According to New Report

  • Feb 07, 2025

Malwarebytes, a provider in real-time cyber protection, recently released its 2025 State of Malware report, which reveals insight into the emergence of agentic artificial intelligence (AI), plus the year’s most prominent threats and cybercrime tactics. The report details a significant uptick in the number of known ransomware attacks, the total value of ransoms paid in 2024, and how IT teams can address them.

“Our research shows that ransomware will continue to be a potent threat to businesses this year,” said Marcin Kleczynski, Founder and CEO, Malwarebytes. “The shift from large ransomware groups to smaller, unpredictable threat actors, combined with the increasing role of AI, means businesses must increase their cybersecurity vigilance and make holistic endpoint security a priority.”

Emerging agentic AI models—which can reason, plan, and act autonomously—will further revolutionize cybercriminal tactics, making attacks more scalable and efficient in 2025. Just as businesses are beginning to explore AI for productivity and security, cybercriminals are leveraging it to improve phishing campaigns, evade detection, and fine-tune attacks. This marks a turning point: the arms race between AI-powered attackers and AI-enhanced cybersecurity tools is rapidly escalating, forcing businesses to rethink traditional defense strategies. With AI rapidly evolving, security teams must integrate AI-driven threat detection and response to keep up and counteract the increasing speed and sophistication of AI-driven cyberattacks.

Known ransomware attacks increased by 13% year-over-year, despite two of the most prominent ransomware groups, LockBit and ALPHV, losing their supremacy. This can be attributed to the rise of smaller, less well-known “dark horse” ransomware gangs posing threats to small and medium-sized businesses. Additionally, 2024 saw the largest known ransomware payment ever recorded when an unknown victim paid $75 million into a crypto wallet.

“If 2024 has taught us anything, it’s that ransomware purveyors aren’t resting on their laurels,” said Lee Wei, SVP, Customer & Product, Corporate Unit at Malwarebytes. “The full attack cycle has gone from weeks to hours and in some cases minutes. Organizations need eyes on their endpoints 24/7 to stay on top of threats and that often means deploying managed services, like Managed Detection and Response (MDR) that can assist teams in filling the gaps.” To read the full report, visit http://threatdown.com/2025-State-of-Malware.

Featured

  • Cost: Reactive vs. Proactive Security

    Security breaches often happen despite the availability of tools to prevent them. To combat this problem, the industry is shifting from reactive correction to proactive protection. This article will examine why so many security leaders have realized they must “lead before the breach” – not after. Read Now

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

  • Beyond Apps: Access Control for Today’s Residents

    The modern resident lives in an app-saturated world. From banking to grocery delivery, fitness tracking to ridesharing, nearly every service demands another download. But when it comes to accessing the place you live, most people do not want to clutter their phone with yet another app, especially if its only purpose is to open a door. Read Now

  • Survey: 48 Percent of Worshippers Feel Less Safe Attending In-Person Services

    Almost half (48%) of those who attend religious services say they feel less safe attending in-person due to rising acts of violence at places of worship. In fact, 39% report these safety concerns have led them to change how often they attend in-person services, according to new research from Verkada conducted online by The Harris Poll among 1,123 U.S. adults who attend a religious service or event at least once a month. Read Now

  • AI Used as Part of Sophisticated Espionage Campaign

    A cybersecurity inflection point has been reached in which AI models has become genuinely useful in cybersecurity operation. But to no surprise, they can used for both good works and ill will. Systemic evaluations show cyber capabilities double in six months, and they have been tracking real-world cyberattacks showing how malicious actors were using AI capabilities. These capabilities were predicted and are expected to evolve, but what stood out for researchers was how quickly they have done so, at scale. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols.

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.