Top APTs and Ransomware Groups to Watch in 2025
As cyber threats continue to evolve, organizations must remain vigilant against a growing list of highly sophisticated adversaries. In 2025, both nation-state Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) and financially motivated ransomware gangs are employing increasingly complex tactics to breach systems, exfiltrate data, and disrupt critical services. This blog identifies the top APT and ransomware groups that security teams should closely monitor this year, along with their known tactics, targets, and trends.
Top APTs and Ransomware Groups to Watch
1. Scattered Spider (UNC3944 / Octo Tempest)
Type: Cybercriminal Group with APT-Level Capabilities
Motivation: Financial gain through extortion and collaboration with ransomware actors.
Notable Tactics: Social engineering, SIM swapping, MFA bypass, identity compromise, and hands-on-keyboard access.
2025 Outlook: Scattered Spider continues to evolve with deep knowledge of identity platforms and a focus on cloud infrastructure. Their blend of social engineering and technical skill makes them one of the most dangerous actors targeting enterprises, particularly in the telecom, finance, and SaaS sectors.
2. Volt Typhoon (China-linked)
Type: State-Sponsored APT
Motivation: Long-term espionage and infrastructure sabotage.
Notable Tactics: Living-off-the-land (LOTL) techniques, native admin tools, stealthy persistence, and targeting of OT/ICS.
2025 Outlook: Volt Typhoon’s focus on critical infrastructure in the U.S. and allied nations signals a dangerous intent to position itself for potential kinetic disruption during geopolitical conflict. Organizations in energy, telecom, water, and transportation sectors should prioritize detection of LOTL behaviors.
3. APT29 (Cozy Bear / Russian SVR)
Type: State-Sponsored APT
Motivation: Espionage targeting governments, research, and policy-making entities.
Notable Tactics: Credential theft, phishing, cloud exploitation, stealthy long-term access.
2025 Outlook: APT29 remains active in targeting Western governments and international organizations. With increasingly stealthy attacks using cloud platforms and identity federation abuse, APT29 is a continued threat to government contractors and diplomatic networks.
4. APT41 (Double Dragon / China-linked)
Type: State-Sponsored and Financially Motivated Hybrid APT
Motivation: Espionage and profit through criminal activity.
Notable Tactics: Supply chain attacks, exploitation of public-facing apps, and backdooring software.
2025 Outlook: APT41 continues to blur the line between cybercrime and espionage. Their use of zero-days and ability to compromise supply chains makes them a high-risk actor for technology companies, healthcare providers, and public sector entities.
5. Akira Ransomware
Type: Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) Group
Motivation: Financial extortion
Notable Tactics: Double extortion, VPN exploitation, and targeting SMBs and enterprise networks.
2025 Outlook: Akira has grown rapidly by targeting organizations lacking robust VPN configurations and legacy MFA. Their adaptability and RaaS model make them a preferred option for affiliates entering the ransomware economy.
6. Clop Ransomware (TA505)
Type: Ransomware Group
Motivation: Financial extortion
Notable Tactics: Supply chain compromise, zero-day exploitation (e.g., MOVEit Transfer), and mass data theft.
2025 Outlook: Clop’s bold attacks on large numbers of organizations via single exploits show its operational maturity. Its focus on critical vulnerabilities in popular enterprise software highlights the need for proactive vulnerability management.
7. Qilin Ransomware (Agenda)
Type: RaaS
Motivation: Financial gain
Notable Tactics: Custom payloads in Go, support for Linux and Windows, highly customizable malware.
2025 Outlook: Qilin’s customizable approach allows affiliates to tailor attacks, making it harder to detect and prevent. Sectors like education, manufacturing, and healthcare remain key targets.
8. Play Ransomware
Type: Cybercriminal Group
Motivation: Extortion and data theft
Notable Tactics: Partial file encryption, stealthy infiltration, and aggressive lateral movement.
2025 Outlook: Play continues to grow with an eye on municipalities and smaller organizations. Their unique encryption techniques often evade signature-based defenses.
9. RansomHub
Type: Emerging RaaS Group
Motivation: Profit through extortion
Notable Tactics: Re-extortion of previous ransomware victims, active recruitment of affiliates.
2025 Outlook: RansomHub is gaining attention by filling the void left by dismantled groups like ALPHV. Their opportunistic strategy and rapid affiliate growth make them a rising threat.
10. SafePay Ransomware
Type: Emerging Ransomware Group
Motivation: Financial gain
Notable Tactics: Use of phishing and exploit kits, encrypted payload delivery, target-specific ransom notes.
2025 Outlook: Though relatively new, SafePay is demonstrating increasing sophistication. Their targeted approach could signal a shift toward more patient, reconnaissance-driven ransomware campaigns.
Stay Ahead of the Threat Curve with ThreatResponder
The threat landscape in 2025 is defined by blurred lines between cybercrime and espionage, the rise of identity-based attacks, and stealthy infiltration using living-off-the-land techniques. Whether it’s an APT looking to steal state secrets or a ransomware gang aiming to disrupt operations for profit, organizations must invest in proactive defense strategies.
NetSecurity’s ThreatResponder platform is designed to detect and respond to these advanced threats. With capabilities including identity threat detection, behavioral analytics, threat hunting, and real-time forensics, ThreatResponder empowers security teams to stay one step ahead. By combining ThreatResponder’s AI-powered, real-time detection with TRF’s comprehensive forensic analysis, security teams can detect, investigate, and respond to cyberattacks faster—and smarter. Learn more about ThreatResponder and schedule a demo with our team today.
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