Report: Ransomware, phishing top threats to businesses in first half

Mounting law enforcement action and increased artificial intelligence adoption have prompted ransomware intrusions to surge during the first half, with a 73% rise observed during the first quarter, while ransomware claims cost rose by 17% over last year, SecurityWeek reports.

Most of the ransomware attacks during the first six months of 2025 were perpetrated by the Interlock, Chaos, Medusa, Akira, and Nightspire operations, an analysis from cyberinsurance provider Reslience found. Scattered Spider was also observed to have increased activity this year.

"This surge in activity comes after a quieter period following the arrest of five members in November 2024, suggesting the groups resilience and ability to continue operations despite law enforcement actions," said Resilience.

Additional findings showed the persistence of elevated downstream losses to impacted firms despite lower vendor-related risk. On the other hand, phishing has emerged as the leading point of failure amid the increasing prevalence of AI-powered social engineering, which was significantly more effective than traditional attacks.