Full Report
As 2025 draws to a close, Tony looks back at the cybersecurity stories that stood out both in December and across the whole of this year
Analysis Summary
# Main Topic
Year-end cybersecurity review by ESET Chief Security Evangelist Tony Anscombe, summarizing the most significant cybersecurity stories of December 2025 and the entirety of the year 2025.
## Key Points
- U.S.-based organizations paid over **$2.1 billion in ransom payments** to ransomware gangs between 2022 and 2024, according to FinCEN data, suggesting this figure is an underestimation of the total impact.
- Texas Attorney General filed a lawsuit against five major TV manufacturers, alleging illegal data collection by secretly monitoring viewer habits and selling this data.
- The review also highlights the "most pernicious tactics and techniques" employed by threat actors throughout the year 2025.
## Threat Actors
- **Ransomware Gangs:** Responsible for extorting over $2.1 billion from U.S. organizations between 2022 and 2024.
- **TV Manufacturers (Alleged Malicious Actors):** Entities accused of exploiting user systems for data harvesting and sale without consent.
## TTPs
- **Ransomware Execution:** Tactics leading to the massive financial impact reported via ransom payments (specific technical TTPs for 2025 were not detailed in this summary snippet, but the overall impact is noted).
- **Data Exfiltration/Monitoring:** Secretly capturing and collecting data on viewer habits via connected television sets.
## Affected Systems
- **U.S. Organizations:** Primary victims of ransomware demands.
- **Smart TV Devices:** Targeted by manufacturers for unauthorized consumer data collection.
## Mitigations
- **Ransomware:** Implicit need for enhanced controls to prevent ransomware payments (No specific technical mitigations were provided in the extract).
- **Data Privacy in Consumer Electronics:** Need for vigilance regarding data consent and monitoring practices in IoT/Smart devices (e.g., legislative or regulatory action as exemplified by the Texas lawsuit).
## Conclusion
The review highlights severe financial pain caused by ransomware actors targeting U.S. entities and points to systemic privacy failures within consumer electronics. Organizations must focus on robust resilience against extortion demands while remaining wary of data exploitation vectors embedded in everyday technology.