Business Disruption, AI-Assisted Attacks, Insider Threats and Accelerated Intrusions on Multiple Fronts Define the New Cyberthreat Landscape says Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 released its 2025 Global Incident Response Report, revealing that 86% of major cyber incidents in 2024 resulted in operational downtime, reputational damage or financial loss.

The report (based on 500 major cyber incidents that Unit 42 responded to across 38 countries and every major industry) highlights a new trend: financially motivated attackers have shifted their focus to deliberate operational disruption, prioritizing sabotage – destroying systems, locking customers out and causing prolonged downtime – to maximize impact and pressure organizations into paying extortion demands.

The 2025 Global Incident Response Report highlights several trends:

  • Cyberattacks Are Moving Faster than Ever
  • The Rise of Insider Threats 
  • Multipronged Attacks Are the New Norm
  • Phishing Makes a Comeback
  • Cloud Attacks Are Increasing
  • AI Is Accelerating the Attack Lifecycle 

The speed, sophistication and scale of attacks have reached unprecedented levels with AI-assisted threats and multipronged intrusions, underscoring that organizations faced an increasingly volatile threat landscape in 2024.

To see the results from this year’s report, please visit the accompanying blog as well as the full report.

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