2025 Fraud Intelligence Report
Posted on May 12, 2025 • 3 min read • 529 words2025 Fraud Intelligence Report
Outsmarting Fraud: Executive Priorities for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses
Published May 2025 | 24 Pages | Free Download
Executive Summary
2025 marks an inflection point in cyber and fraud risk. Small and mid-sized businesses face unprecedented threats, with attackers shifting tactics to identity fraud, payment fraud, supply chain exploitation, and operational disruption via ransomware and deepfake-enabled social engineering.
This report synthesizes intelligence from the industry’s most respected sources—Mandiant M-Trends 2025, Verizon DBIR 2025, CrowdStrike Global Threat Report, Unit42 Incident Response Report, and IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index—into actionable guidance for business leaders.
Key Statistics
| Metric | Finding | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 79% | of attacks are malware-free | CrowdStrike 2025 |
| 86% | of incidents involve operational disruption | Unit42 2025 |
| 30% | of intrusions involve identity-based attacks | IBM X-Force 2025 |
| 29% | surge in cloud and SaaS compromises | Unit42 2025 |
| 2x | third-party breaches doubled year-over-year | Verizon DBIR 2025 |
What’s Inside
Big Picture
The 2025 cybercrime landscape—info-stealer malware surge, unsecured data repositories, cloud migration risks, AI-assisted attacks, and the rise of insider threats including North Korean IT worker infiltration.
Top 5 Fraud Threats
- Ransomware and Extortion — 37% increase in ransomware breaches, 80% rise in extortion demands
- Info-stealer Malware — 84% rise in info-stealers via phishing, fueling follow-on attacks
- Cloud Compromises — IAM issues in 41% of incidents, misconfigurations exploited at scale
- AI-Powered Attacks — Synthetic text in emails doubled, exfiltration time reduced from 2 days to 25 minutes
- Insider Threats — Cases tied to North Korea tripled in 2024
Attacks Making News
- Volt Typhoon (UNC5135) — Chinese espionage in U.S. critical infrastructure
- MOVEit Exploitation — Widespread third-party data theft
- Snowflake Compromise — Cloud misconfigurations enabling data exfiltration
- BlackCat (ALPHV) — Stolen credentials for encryption and extortion
- CURLY SPIDER — Full attack chain in under 4 minutes
How to Protect Your Business
Actionable defense strategies for SMBs, including 5 “Do Now” quick wins and 5 strategic trends to watch.
AI Section: A First
We asked three leading AI models the same question: “I’m a small e-commerce business owner without budget for cybersecurity—what should I do?”
Compare recommendations from Grok-3, ChatGPT o3-mini, and Claude 3.7 Sonnet. All delivered solid, low-cost recommendations—a testament to how far AI has come in one year.
10 Key Insights
- Fraud is faster, more targeted, and increasingly AI-powered
- Credential theft allows adversaries to access accounts at will
- Exploitation of known vulnerabilities gives attackers a head start
- Weak identities widen attack surfaces
- Third-party vendor risk management is required
- Investigate phishing-resistant passwordless technology
- Expect to be attacked and prepare your response plan
- Know your data, where it is, and how it’s protected
- Educate your teams—help them stay vigilant
- Know your infrastructure and third-party dependencies
Download the Full Report
Get the complete 24-page report with detailed analysis, charts, and actionable recommendations.
No registration required. Research = FREE.
About This Report
The Fraud Intelligence Report (FIR) is published annually by FIR Risk Advisory. We synthesize intelligence from government agencies (CISA, FBI, NCSC, ENISA) and industry leaders (Verizon, CrowdStrike, Mandiant, Palo Alto Networks, IBM) to deliver actionable insights that help businesses stay ahead of evolving threats.