5 Key Takeaways from the 2025 Verizon Data Breach Report

As your trusted technology partner, the team here at Sentry and our AI tools have analyzed this comprehensive report to bring you the most critical takeaways that directly impact your business strategy and security posture.

Let's dive into the five key findings that every business leader should be aware of.

1. Third-Party Involvement in Breaches Has Doubled

One of the most alarming trends identified in this year's report is the significant increase in breaches involving third parties. According to the DBIR:

"For this year, we found third-party involvement of some sort in 30% of all breaches we analyzed, up from roughly 15% last year."

This means nearly one-third of all data breaches now involve a vendor or partner with access to your systems or data. The report highlights several high-profile incidents where third-party software vulnerabilities or credentials were exploited, including the Snowflake incident where "approximately 80% of the accounts leveraged by the threat actor in this attack had prior credential exposure."

What this means for your business: Your security is only as strong as your weakest vendor. A comprehensive vendor risk management program is no longer a nice-to-have—it's a necessity. When evaluating technology partners, make security outcomes a critical component of your decision-making process.

2. Ransomware Continues to Grow, Particularly Targeting Small Businesses

The presence of ransomware in breaches has increased by 37% from last year, now appearing in 44% of all breaches analyzed. Perhaps more concerning is the disproportionate impact on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs):

"In larger organizations, Ransomware is a component of 39% of breaches, while SMBs experienced Ransomware-related breaches to the tune of 88% overall."

While there is a slight silver lining in that "the median amount paid to ransomware groups has decreased to $115,000 (from $150,000 last year)," and "64% of the victim organizations did not pay the ransoms," the risk remains substantial, especially for smaller organizations.

What this means for your business: No organization is too small to be targeted. Implementing robust backup solutions, developing incident response plans, and securing proper cyber insurance coverage are critical steps all businesses should take, regardless of size.

3. Vulnerabilities Are Being Exploited at Record Rates

The exploitation of vulnerabilities as an initial access vector continues to grow at an alarming rate:

"The exploitation of vulnerabilities has seen another year of growth as an initial access vector for breaches, reaching 20%. This value approaches that of credential abuse, which is still the most common vector. This was an increase of 34% in relation to last year's report and was supported, in part, by zero-day exploits targeting edge devices and virtual private networks (VPNs)."

The report also highlights that "the percentage of edge devices and VPNs as a target on our exploitation of vulnerabilities action was 22%, and it grew almost eight-fold from the 3% found in last year's report."

What this means for your business: Prioritize patching, especially for internet-facing systems. The report found that "organizations worked very hard to patch those edge device vulnerabilities, but our analysis showed only about 54% of those were fully remediated throughout the year, and it took a median of 32 days to accomplish." Having a vulnerability management program with clear prioritization criteria is essential for protecting your business.

4. Espionage-Motivated Breaches Are on the Rise

While financial gain remains the primary motive for most cyberattacks, espionage is growing as a motivation:

"We also saw significant growth in Espionage-motivated breaches in our analysis, which are now at 17%. This rise was, in part, due to changes in our contributor makeup. Those breaches leveraged the exploitation of vulnerabilities as an initial access vector 70% of the time, showcasing the risk of running unpatched services."

Interestingly, the report notes that "approximately 28% of incidents involving those actors had a Financial motive," suggesting state-sponsored actors may be "double-dipping" for personal gain.

What this means for your business: Understanding the types of data your organization holds and its value to different threat actors is crucial. Intellectual property, business plans, and customer data can all be targets. Implement appropriate controls based on your specific risk profile and the sensitivity of your data.

5. AI and Personal Devices Present Growing Risks

The report identifies two emerging risk areas that business leaders should be aware of:

AI-related risks: While GenAI hasn't revolutionized cyberattacks yet, it is being used by threat actors, and there are concerns about data leakage to AI platforms:

"15% of employees were routinely accessing GenAI systems on their corporate devices (at least once every 15 days). Even more concerning, a large number of those were either using non-corporate emails as the identifiers of their accounts (72%) or were using their corporate emails without integrated authentication systems in place (17%), most likely suggesting use outside of corporate policy."

Personal devices with corporate access: The report found concerning data about credential leakage from personal devices:

"46% of those compromised systems that had corporate logins in their compromised data were non-managed and were hosting both personal and business credentials. These are most likely attributable to a BYOD program or are enterprise-owned devices being used outside of the permissible policy."

What this means for your business: Develop clear policies around AI usage and personal device access. Implement technical controls where possible, but also focus on employee education and awareness. The human element remains critical in cybersecurity.

Protecting Your Business with Sentry

At Sentry Technology Solutions, we understand the challenges businesses face in today's complex technological landscape. Whether you're grappling with cybersecurity threats, struggling to streamline operations, or wanting to strategically leverage technology, we are your trusted guide.

Our expert team creates clear plans tailored to your specific needs, providing solutions that safeguard your business and optimize your technology investment. With Sentry by your side, you can confidently leverage technology to increase security, productivity, profit, and peace of mind.

Contact us today to discuss how we can help protect your business against the evolving threat landscape.

Looking for more in-depth information about cybersecurity best practices? Visit our Cybersecurity Resources page to learn more about how we can help protect your business.