May 2025 - Reviewing Verizon's 2025 Data Breach Report

Verizon released its 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, and unsurprisingly, data breach numbers continue to rise.

Security professionals know that their organizations continue to be targeted by cybercriminals, but what they should know is the specific areas where bad actors are setting their sights.

While bad actors try to target the organization directly, they are starting to hone in on the companies they do business with as well. Of course, many cyber threats that have dominated the headlines over the years continue to rise as well.

This article will explore some of the figures found within the report, and what security professionals should do to ensure their organizations do not further contribute to these trends in the years ahead.

Third-Party Breaches Double, Ransomware Continues to Spread

The top figure Verizon focused on in their 2025 report is third-party breaches. Verizon found that the number of data breaches where a third party was involved doubled in 2024, rising from 15% to 30%.

In the report, Verizon said these breaches in particular were driven in part by “vulnerability exploitation and business interruptions.”

Cybercriminals also looked to exploit vulnerabilities as their launching pad to conduct a data breach. Verizon said such exploitations grew by 34% in 2024. This type of breach now makes up a sizable amount of reported incidents. Verizon’s report revealed such breaches accounted for 20% of incidents in the previous year.

Remediating these incidents has been a challenge as well. The report said only 54% of perimeter device vulnerabilities were fully remediated. The median amount of time to do so was 32 days. Thus, only a little more than half of these vulnerabilities were addressed, and it took more than a month for organizations to do it, giving bad actors ample opportunity to exploit the flaws.

Ransomware continues to be a growing issue for organizations, as 44% of cybersecurity breaches involved ransomware last year, up 5% from 2023.

The decision whether to pay the ransom is a difficult one, and Verizon noted that 64% of organizations affected by ransomware decided not to pay.

The average payment from those companies that did decide to pay reached $115,000 in 2024.

Verizon’s report also delved into the types of devices affected by infostealing credential logs, finding 30% of compromised systems came from enterprise-license devices. Still, personal devices accounted for more of these compromises, as 46% of compromised systems came from non-managed devices.

Collaboration is Key to Preventing Breaches

The notable rise in third-party breaches highlights a need for security professionals to carefully vet any vendors they decide to onboard. Ensure that any third party your organization works with has the proper security measures in place by conducting a vendor risk assessment. This should not be a one-time occurrence. Continuously monitor your vendor’s security controls as you continue to work with them.

It’s also recommended you limit the amount of information a third-part can access, and in the event an incident takes place, work collaboratively with the third-party vendor to respond.

Continuously scan for any vulnerabilities within your company, and work to reduce response time as much as possible. The Verizon report also highlights the dangers of allowing employees to work personal devices, thus, it may be advisable to only allow employees to use specific devices for work.

BYOD policies have their benefits, but personal devices are often not as well-protected as corporate devices. The passwords used by employees may be insufficient, and there’s always a risk an employee will connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi network and conduct business, potentially leaving sensitive information open to bad actors.

To address these risks, BlackCloak provides security for executives’ personal devices, ensuring protection even outside of the traditional corporate perimeter.

By taking these steps, security professionals can safeguard their organization’s valuable assets and reduce the likelihood of becoming a part of the statistics in next year’s Verizon’s Data Breach Report.