(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- Arete, a pioneering leader in ransomware and extortion response and cyber risk management, released its Q3 2025 Crimeware Report, highlighting key threat groups, tactics, and campaigns impacting insurance carriers, brokers, law firms, and insured organizations. Arete's global teams collect comprehensive data from every aspect of the threat lifecycle, resulting in unique, end-to-end visibility and insight.

Key findings within the report:
- Arete observed an unprecedented surge in engagements attributed to Akira starting in mid-July. In August, the group was responsible for over half of all Arete engagements.
- Throughout 2025, both the median ransom demand and median payment have steadily increased each quarter. However, the percentage of time a ransom is paid has decreased.
- Vulnerability exploitation was the most common attack vector in Q3, particularly the widespread exploitation of vulnerable SonicWall devices. Threat actors also continued to evolve social engineering techniques, including SEO poisoning and malvertising campaigns.

"The third quarter of 2025 highlighted the importance of data-informed cyber risk management and effective incident response solutions,” said Chris Martenson, Arete's Chief Data Officer.“The ongoing evolution of social engineering and vulnerability exploits warrants a comprehensive approach to cyber defense and data protection," Martenson added.

Arete's compliance-focused security solutions ensure that our partners and clients can not only understand the threat landscape but also act decisively to mitigate cost and downtime, enhance compliance, and strengthen resilience.

Download Arete's Q3 2025 Crimeware Report.


About Arete
At Arete, we envision a world without cyber extortion, where people, businesses, and governments can thrive. We are taking all that we know from over 13,000 engagements to inform our solutions and strengthen powerful tools to better prevent, detect, and respond to the cyber extortion threats of tomorrow. Our elite team of experts provides unparalleled capabilities to address the entire cyber threat lifecycle, from incident response and restoration to advisory and managed security services. To learn more about our solutions, visit .

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