2025 IBM X-Force Threat Index: Large-Scale Credential Theft Escalates, Threat Actors Pivot to Stealthier Tactics
IBM News, Thursday, April 17th, 2025
Nearly half of all cyberattacks resulted in stolen data or credentials; Identity abuse was the preferred entry point
IBM released the 2025 X-Force Threat Intelligence Index highlighting that cybercriminals continued to pivot to stealthier tactics, with lower-profile credential theft spiking, while ransomware attacks on enterprises declined. IBM X-Force observed an 84% increase in emails delivering infostealers in 2024 compared to the prior year, a method threat actors relied heavily on to scale identity attacks.
The 2025 report tracks new and existing trends and attack patterns - pulling from incident response engagements, dark web and other threat intelligence sources.