Kaspersky’s (www.Kaspersky.co.za) detection systems discovered an average of 500,000 malicious files per day in 2025, marking a 7% increase compared to the previous year. Certain types of threats saw growth globally – there was a 59% surge in password stealer detections, a 51% growth in spyware detections, and a 6% growth in backdoor detections compared to 2024.

These findings are part of the Kaspersky Security Bulletin (https://apo-opa.co/44CY5Zj) series where we review the key cybersecurity trends of the past year.

Windows remains the primary target for cyberattacks. 48% of users on Windows were targeted by different types of threats throughout 2025. For Mac users, this figure stands at 29%.

Web threats

Globally, 27% of users were attacked with web threats – these refer to malware that targets users when they are online. Web threats are not limited to online activity, but ultimately involve the Internet at some stage for inflicted harm. In Latin America, 26% of users were attacked by web threats in 2025, while this share reached 25% in Africa, 21% in Europe and 19% in the Middle East.

On-device threats

33% of users were attacked with on-device threats. These include malware that is spread via removable USB drives, CDs and DVDs, or that initially makes its way onto the computer in non-open form (for example, programs in complex installers, encrypted files, etc.). Africa headed the rating with 41% of users attacked with this type of threat; APAC reached 33%, Middle East – 32%, Latin America – 30%, and Europe 20%.

“The current cyberthreat landscape is defined by increasingly sophisticated attacks on organisations and individuals around the world. One of the most significant revelations made by Kaspersky this year was the resurgence of the Hacking Team after its 2019 rebranding, with its commercial spyware Dante used in the ForumTroll APT campaign, incorporating zero-day exploits in Chrome and Firefox browsers. Vulnerabilities remain the most popular way for attackers to get into corporate networks, followed by using stolen credentials – hence the rise in password stealers and spyware we see this year. Supply chain attacks are also common, including attacks on open-source software. This year the number of such attacks increased significantly, and we even saw the first widespread NPM worm Shai-Hulud,” comments Alexander Liskin, Head of Threat Research at Kaspersky. “This increasingly complex threat landscape makes implementing robust cybersecurity strategies vital for organisations, as failure to do so can lead to months of downtime in the event of attacks. Individual users should also always use reliable security solutions, otherwise they put not only their data and money at risk, but also those of the organisations where they work.”

Follow this link (https://apo-opa.co/44CY5Zj) to learn more about other KSB reports.

To stay protected, follow the recommendations below.

Individual users:

• Do not download and install applications from untrusted sources.
• Do not click on any links from unknown sources or suspicious online advertisements.
• Always use two-factor authentication when available. Create strong and unique passwords, using a mix of lower-case and upper-case letters, numbers, and punctuation. Use a reliable password manager to help to remember them.
• Always install updates when they become available; they contain fixes for critical security issues.
• Ignore messages asking to disable security systems for office or cybersecurity software.
• Use a robust security solution appropriate to your system type and devices, such as Kaspersky Premium (https://apo-opa.co/4pFVUMB).

Organisations:

• Always keep software updated on all the devices you use to prevent attackers from infiltrating your network by exploiting vulnerabilities.
• Do not expose remote desktop services (such as RDP) to public networks unless absolutely necessary and always use strong passwords for them.
• Use advanced Kaspersky Next (https://apo-opa.co/4pQstI1) security products for comprehensive visibility across all company’s corporate infrastructure to rapidly hunt out, prioritise, investigate and neutralise complex threats and APT-like attacks.
• Use the latest Threat Intelligence (https://apo-opa.co/3MdQvOI) information to stay aware of actual TTPs used by threat actors.
• Back up corporate data regularly. Backups should be isolated from the network. Make sure you can quickly access the backups in an emergency if needed.

All statistics in this report come from Kaspersky Security Network (KSN). For 2025, the statistics cover the period from November 2024 through October 2025.