Nearly one-third of security vulnerabilities this year have been exploited prior to detection or within a day of being reported, compared with 23.6% of such flaws last year, Infosecurity Magazine reports.
Most of the targeted security bugs during the first half of 2025 were those in content management systems, followed by those in network edge devices, server software, open-source software, and operating systems, with Microsoft and Cisco being the two most targeted vendors, according to findings from VulnCheck. Chinese state-backed threat actors continued to be most active in exploiting known vulnerabilities between January and June, despite a significant decrease in KEV attributions over the same period. While a similar reduction in KEV attribution has also been observed among North Korean state-sponsored hacking operations, Russian and Iranian state-linked threat actors have ramped up exploitation activities, with both recording two times more KEV attributions during the first half of 2025.
Most of the targeted security bugs during the first half of 2025 were those in content management systems, followed by those in network edge devices, server software, open-source software, and operating systems, with Microsoft and Cisco being the two most targeted vendors, according to findings from VulnCheck. Chinese state-backed threat actors continued to be most active in exploiting known vulnerabilities between January and June, despite a significant decrease in KEV attributions over the same period. While a similar reduction in KEV attribution has also been observed among North Korean state-sponsored hacking operations, Russian and Iranian state-linked threat actors have ramped up exploitation activities, with both recording two times more KEV attributions during the first half of 2025.
