KnowBe4 today released its “Global Retail Report 2025,” revealing a notable shift in cybercriminal tactics targeting the retail sector. The report finds that credential harvesting, which is often orchestrated through phishing attacks, has become the predominant threat, accounting for 38% of all compromised data in 2023, while payment card data theft dropped to 25%.
The research shows an alarming increase in cyberattacks in the retail sector, with attack frequency rising by 56% in 2023 compared to the previous year. This puts retail in the top five industries targeted by cybercriminals. The average cost of a retail data breach reached $3.48 million in 2024, an 18% increase from 2023.
Key findings from the report include:
- Credential theft now accounts for 38% of all compromised data, while payment card theft dropped to 25%, making credential harvesting the leading threat in retail cyberattacks.
- North America’s retail sector experienced the highest percentage of attacks (56%), while Latin America saw the second most at 32%, and Europe experienced 11% of attacks.
- The U.S. retail sector accounted for 45% of global ransomware attacks despite representing only 28% of market share, making retail the second most targeted sector.
- Conducting security awareness training and simulated phishing evaluations for one year or more can reduce the likelihood of employees falling for phishing attacks for organizations of all sizes.
The report demonstrates the significant impact of security awareness training on reducing human risk in retail organizations. Employee susceptibility to phishing attacks dropped from 42.4% to just 5.2% in large retail organizations, while small and medium-sized retailers saw similar improvements, with rates dropping to 4.7% and 4.5% respectively after one year of continuous training.
To download the full KnowBe4 Global Retail Report 2025, click here.
IPv4.Global Launches New Lending Program Using IP Addresses as Collateral
Posted in Commentary with tags IPv4.Global on March 10, 2025 by itnerdIPv4.Global, the world’s largest, most trusted and transparent IPv4 marketplace, today announced a first-of-its kind loan facility backed by the borrower’s IPv4 addresses as collateral.
IPv4.Global’s offering is an important evolution of a financial product, building on the vehicle developed by Cogent, which offered notes secured by the revenues from their leased addresses with back up collateralization of the addresses themselves.
With IPv4.Global’s innovative IPv4 collateral lending structure, the asset itself is the collateral. Customers can now leverage their IPv4 addresses as collateral against a loan, securing needed funding while still having access to – and full use of – their IPv4 assets. In-place leases are not part of the collateral and so none are required.
IPv4.Global is the leading IPv4 address marketplace in the world. The transparent online marketplace is the definitive industry benchmark for IPv4 transactions and transfers. IPv4.Global works with customers to buy, sell, lease, and now borrow against IPv4 blocks, regardless of size, and has completed more transfers globally than any other provider, and its private sales channel manages both seller and buyer interests off-platform.
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