37+ Malware Statistics That You Need To Know in 2025

John arrived at his marketing firm on what seemed like an ordinary Monday morning. After settling at his desk, he clicked on an email that appeared to be from a long-time client. The attachment—labeled “Q2_Contract_Renewal.docx”—seemed routine.

Three clicks later, his screen froze momentarily before returning to normal. He thought nothing of it and continued throughout the day. 48 hours later, every computer in the 150-person company displayed the same message:

“Your files are encrypted. Payment required within 72 hours to restore access.”

The ransomware had silently propagated throughout the network, encrypting customer data, financial records, and 4 years of creative work.

The ransom: $213,000 in cryptocurrency.

This scenario played out more than 2,000 times across small and medium-sized businesses in the first quarter of 2025 alone. The culprit? A variant of the DarkSide ransomware family, delivered through a seemingly innocuous document.

This is the face of malware in 2025—sophisticated, devastating, and more prevalent than ever before. We are taking a deep dive to take a look at the eye-opening malware statistics that should make you think twice before clicking that link in your inbox.

Understanding Malware: The Digital Weapon

Malware—short for “malicious software“— is a program or code designed to damage, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems. Unlike legitimate software that aims to benefit users, malware serves the illicit purposes of stealing information, extorting money, disrupting operations, or establishing hidden control over systems.

In 2025, organized criminal enterprises and nation-state actors are using sophisticated forms of malware to inflict long-lasting damage for illicit financial gains.

What’s even more concerning is the silent infiltration, making detection nearly impossible in a short span of time.

Malware by the Numbers: The 2025 Landscape

Let’s talk about malware by the numbers and how the threat landscape evolved in 2025 and beyond.

Volume and Growth

1. Total malware detected: 1.2 billion unique malware and PUAs (Potentially Unwanted Applications) exist in 2025—a 20% increase from 2024.
2. New malware variants: As much as 560,000+ new malware variants are detected daily.
3. Dark web malware market: It costs an average of $4,500 for as many as 1,000 installs of malware from the dark web, known as Maas (Malware as a Service).
4. AI-enhanced malware: 37% of new malware samples show evidence of AI/ML optimization techniques further making detection and mitigation difficult for companies.
5. Clean-to-malicious ratio: For every 9 legitimate files scanned, security firms now identify 1 malicious file.
6. Vulnerable OS: Android OS is 50% more vulnerable to malware attacks compared to other operating systems.

The volume of malware continues its exponential growth, with 2025 marking the highest number of unique samples ever recorded. The rising availability of malware-as-a-service platforms has allowed novice cybercriminals to stage highly successful attacks.

Attack Rates and Success

7. Malware attack attempts: The average internet-connected device faces 1,100+ malware attack attempts annually.
8. Successful infections: 27% of devices experience at least one successful malware infection per year.
9. Dwell time: Malware remains undetected on systems for an average of 21 days before discovery.
10. Repeat victimization: 87% of organizations that experience a malware infection will be successfully targeted again within 12 months.
11. Prevention vs. detection: 67% of malware is now stopped by preventative measures, while 33% is only identified post-infection
12. Double Trouble: Malware attacks increased by 86% in just the last decade.

Cost of Damages

13. Global malware damage costs: $12.5 trillion annually (projected for full year 2025)
14. Average ransomware payment: $294,000 per incident (up 42% from 2024)
15. Recovery costs: Organizations spend an average of 5.2x the ransom amount on recovery efforts
16. Stock impact: Public companies experiencing significant malware breaches see an average 7.3% stock price decline in the 30 days following disclosure
17. Insurance response: 43% of cyber insurance providers have increased premiums specifically for malware coverage, with average increases of 37%

Most Common Malware Delivery Methods

18. Email attachments and links: 41% of successful malware infections
19. Compromised websites: 23% of successful malware infections
20. Software vulnerabilities: 17% of successful malware infections
21. Removable media: 9% of successful malware infections
22. Supply chain compromises: 7% of successful malware infections
23. Other methods: 3% of successful malware infections

Email remains the predominant malware delivery vector despite decades of awareness efforts. The sophistication of social engineering continues to evolve, with highly targeted spear-phishing showing success rates up to 24% in penetration testing scenarios.

Malware File Names: Deception in Disguise

The most common malicious file names observed in 2025 continue to leverage social engineering principles to encourage user interaction:

• Invoice.docx – Leverages business document expectations
• Receipt_ID7729.pdf – Creates urgency around financial records
• Salary_Review_2025.xlsx – Targets employee financial interests
• CV_Engineering_Position.pdf – Exploits recruitment processes
• Court_Summons_2025.pdf – Generates compliance fear response
• Shipping_Confirmation_UPS.exe – Disguised as delivery notifications
• Tax_Return_2025.exe – Exploits tax season concerns
• Quotation.exe – Appeals as a price quotation by one of the vendors.
• Photo_Album_Family.zip – Appeals to personal curiosity
• Security_Update_Windows.exe – Impersonates legitimate updates

Major Malware Breaches of 2025

Not a day goes by when we don’t get to hear data breaches and cybersecurity incidents. Here are the 6 most shocking ones in 2025:

1. Bank Sepah (Iran) – March 2025

• Threat Actor: Codebreakers
• Data Compromised: Over 42 million customer records, including account numbers, passwords, mobile numbers, addresses, transaction histories, and sensitive military personnel data.
• Ransom Demand: Unknown
• Impact: The breach exposed 12 terabytes of data, leading to significant public outcry due to the revelation of financial details of senior Iranian officials.

2. PowerSchool (USA) – January 2025

• Threat Actor: Unknown
• Data Compromised: Information of over 62.5 million students and 9.5 million teachers, including Social Security numbers and health-specific data.
• Impact: Affected more than a thousand schools across the United States, disrupting educational operations and raising concerns over student privacy.

3. Hertz Global (USA) – February 2025

• Threat Actor: Potentially Clop ransomware gang
• Data Compromised: Customer names, contact details, birth dates, credit card information, driver’s license numbers, and in some cases, Social Security and passport numbers.
• Impact: The breach, stemming from vulnerabilities in a vendor’s platform, potentially affected customers across multiple regions, including the US, Canada, EU, UK, and Australia.

4. DaVita Inc. (USA) – April 2025

• Threat Actor: Unknown
• Impact: A ransomware attack led to the encryption of certain network elements, disrupting operations. The company’s stock fell by 3% following the disclosure, indicating a significant financial impact.

5. DBS Group and Bank of China (Singapore) – April 2025

• Threat Actor: Unknown
• Data Compromised: Approximately 8,200 DBS client statements and data from around 3,000 BoC customers, including names, addresses, and loan account numbers.
• Impact: The breach occurred through a ransomware attack on a third-party vendor, potentially compromising sensitive customer information.

6. ICICI Bank (India) – January 2025

• Threat Actor: BASHE group (also known as APT73 and Eraleig)
• Data Compromised: Personal and banking information, including account details, dates of birth, full names, credit card numbers, phone numbers, emails, and home addresses.
• Impact: The ransomware group claimed to have stolen massive amounts of data and issued a ransom demand, though the exact volume of data stolen remains unspecified.

Malware Variants – Understanding The Different Types

Ransomware (34%)

Ransomware continues dominating malware incidents, taking the top spot in staging high-value attacks. Double and triple extortion techniques—combining encryption with data theft and threats of public disclosure—have become standard practice.

24. The average ransom demand reached $294,000 in 2025, though targeted attacks against critical infrastructure and large enterprises frequently demand millions.

Notable trend: The emergence of “adaptive ransomware” that adjusts encryption strategies and ransom demands based on identified system values and data sensitivity.

Fileless Malware (27%)

Living almost entirely in memory and leveraging legitimate system tools, fileless malware continues its rapid growth as traditional signature-based detection proves ineffective against these threats. PowerShell, WMI, and other legitimate administrative tools are commonly exploited to execute malicious code without leaving traces on storage media.

25. Notable trend: 78% increase in fileless malware attacks from 2024 to 2025, with particularly high success rates against organizations lacking advanced endpoint protection.

Information Stealers (19%)

Designed to harvest credentials, financial information, and confidential data, information stealers have grown more targeted and persistent. The information theft marketplace has matured significantly, with specialized malware designed to extract specific data types from particular industries.

26. Notable trend: Banking trojans have evolved into comprehensive information stealers, often exfiltrating data to be sold separately from their traditional financial fraud operations.

Cryptojackers (8%)

While decreasing as a percentage of overall malware, cryptojacking remains profitable as cryptocurrency values fluctuate. These malware variants hijack computing resources to mine cryptocurrency, often targeting cloud infrastructure where computing resources are abundant and detection can be challenging.

27. Notable trend: Cryptojackers are increasingly targeting IoT devices and network infrastructure rather than end-user systems, seeking longer infection periods and access to greater computing resources.

Worms (3%)

Self-propagating malware saw a resurgence in 2025, particularly targeting connected IoT environments. Modern worms often combine multiple propagation mechanisms, enabling rapid spread across diverse network environments.

28. Notable trend: The emergence of “ecosystem worms” specifically designed to propagate across homogeneous vendor environments, exploiting common vulnerabilities across product lines.

Top Malware Families of 2025

1. Emotet Evolution (Banking Trojan/Loader) – This persistent threat continues to evolve, now functioning primarily as a delivery mechanism for other malware. The 2025 variant features enhanced evasion capabilities and modular design allowing rapid adaptation to defensive measures.
   
2. BlackCat/ALPHV (Ransomware) – Written in Rust and featuring advanced encryption capabilities, BlackCat has become the leading ransomware family, operated under a sophisticated affiliate model. Average ransom demands reached $2.7 million in targeted attacks.
   
3. Formbook (Information Stealer) – This versatile infostealer continues its prominence due to low cost on criminal markets and high effectiveness.
   
4. Qakbot (Banking Trojan/Botnet) – Despite multiple takedown attempts, this resilient malware continues to thrive. Known for its ability to disable security software and establish persistence, Qakbot infections frequently lead to subsequent ransomware deployment.
   
5. ZeuS Sphinx (Banking Malware) – This descendant of the infamous ZeuS banking trojan specializes in credential theft and fraudulent transactions. The 2025 variant added capabilities specifically targeting mobile banking authentication mechanisms.
   
6. DarkGate (Loader/RAT) – This versatile malware combines multiple functionalities, serving as both a loader for other malware and a remote access trojan. Its modular design allows operators to deploy specific functionalities based on target value.
   
7. LockBit 7.0 (Ransomware) – The latest evolution of the LockBit ransomware family features the fastest encryption algorithms observed to date, capable of encrypting an entire enterprise network in under 15 minutes under optimal conditions.
   
8. IcedID (Banking Trojan/Loader) – Originally a banking trojan, IcedID has evolved into a sophisticated initial access facilitator for ransomware operations. The 2025 variant demonstrates enhanced evasion capabilities and stealth techniques.
   
9. Laplas Clipper (Cryptocurrency Hijacker) – Specializing in the manipulation of cryptocurrency wallet addresses during clipboard operations, this malware family has grown substantially as cryptocurrency adoption increases.
   
10. SocGholish (JavaScript Malware Framework) – Delivered primarily through compromised websites, this framework establishes persistent access and evaluates victim systems for follow-on exploitation potential.
    

Malware by Region: A Global Threat with Local Variations

Attack Origins (Top 5)

1. Eastern Europe – 27%
2. East Asia – 23%
3. North America – 19%
4. South Asia – 14%
5. South America – 9%

Target Regions (Top 5)

1. North America – 38%
2. Western Europe – 29%
3. East Asia – 17%
4. Middle East – 8%
5. Australia/New Zealand – 5%

Regional Malware Preferences

Different regions show distinct patterns in prevalent malware types:

29. North America: Predominantly targeted by ransomware (41% of attacks) and information stealers (27%).
30. Western Europe: Banking trojans (36%) and ransomware (32%) dominate.
31. East Asia: Information stealers (39%) and backdoors (24%) are most common.
32. Middle East: State-sponsored backdoors (42%) and wiper malware (17%) show higher prevalence.
33. Latin America: Banking trojans (47%) significantly outpace other malware types.

The Human Element: Social Engineering and Malware

Despite technological advancements, human behavior remains central to malware success:

34. Phishing response rates: 32% of employees still click on simulated phishing links in security tests.
35. Reporting behavior: Only 17% of employees report suspicious emails to security teams.
36. Security bypass: 46% of employees admit to circumventing security measures for convenience.
37. Training effectiveness: Organizations with monthly security training experience 71% fewer successful malware infections.

Emerging Malware Trends for 2025-2026

AI-Enhanced Malware

Machine learning algorithms are increasingly incorporated into malware development, enabling dynamic evasion techniques and target profiling. These capabilities allow malware to assess victim value and adjust behavior accordingly, maximizing return on infection.

Living-off-the-Land (LotL) Techniques

The use of legitimate system tools and processes to execute malicious activities continues to grow, with 67% of advanced persistent threats now incorporating some form of LotL techniques. This approach significantly complicates detection and attribution efforts.

Ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS)

Just like SaaS that allows users to for a monthly subscription to software, hackers now sell RaaS to allow novice affiliate cybercriminals to stage cyberattacks with all the tools, without learning how to code and hack. This has opened floodgates of cyberattacks in the last few years, specifically post-COVID.

Malware Defense: Adapting to the Evolving Threat

The cybersecurity industry continues to adapt to malware evolution:

• AI-Powered Detection: 83% of enterprise security products now incorporate machine learning for malware identification
• Behavior-Based Analysis: Detection increasingly focuses on behavior patterns rather than signatures, identifying 47% more unknown malware variants
• Automated Response: Security orchestration and automated response (SOAR) reduces malware containment time by an average of 73%
• Threat Intelligence: Collaborative intelligence sharing identifies new malware variants an average of 8.3 days faster than isolated detection systems

So, What’s Next?

Malware remains one of the most dynamic and persistent threats affecting companies of all sizes. For organizations and individuals alike, the key to malware defense lies not in any single technology or approach, but in comprehensive security strategies that address technical vulnerabilities, human factors, and procedural weaknesses.