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Over a million critical severity records exposed in Q1 2025 alone - make sure you're not at risk

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  • Norton's Gen Threat Report reveals worrying trends in cybersecurity
  • Scams and data breaches are on the rise
  • Over a million records breached in the first quarter of 2025 alone

The latest Norton Gen Threat Report has revealed its findings regarding Q1 of 2025 - and although a decline in the total number of blocked attacks could point to a reduction in threat activity, the finer details reveal some much more concerning trends.

It found data stealing threats have seen a huge surge, with an 186% rise in breached records, and breached user emails alone were up 102%. This translates to over 1.19 million records of ‘high severity’ or ‘critical severity’ impacted - including plaintext passwords.

This, of course, represents a huge danger from threat actors, who could use these passwords to directly access user accounts. We recommend regularly checking breach websites like HaveIBeenPwned and also taking a look at the best identity threat protection software if you’ve been affected.

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Breaches on the rise

Breach events themselves are on the rise, increasing over 36% year-on-year, which is reflected in the almost 4% rise in the number of users notified of identity protection incidents.

Credit alerts that notify users of potential fraud alerts have seen an almost 14% increase, and criminal record alerts, which inform users of potential misuse of their identity have also risen nearly 12%.

Data breaches aren’t the only thing on the rise, as scams and social media exploits have also been increasing.

For example, malicious push notifications that deliver scams increased over 10% in the risk ratio for Germany, as well as almost 25% in Norway, and over 22% in Denmark.

Financial threats gained millions in profits in Q1, especially thanks to AI powered deepfake and cryptocurrency scams, with one campaign from the CryptoCore group resulting in 2,200 fraudulent transactions, and reaping $3.8 million for the scammers.

“The Gen Q1/2025 Threat Report revealed an evolving threat landscape where cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated, leveraging advanced technologies like AI, deepfakes, and cross-platform scams to exploit trust and target their victims. These issues aren’t just technological; they’re deeply personal, affecting real people and real lives,” the report noted.

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