Q1/2025 Gen Threat Report Reveals AI-Driven Scams Redefining Cybercrime

Rhea-AI Summary

Gen's Q1/2025 Threat Report reveals alarming cybersecurity trends. Data breaches surged 186% in breached records and 36% in company breaches. Phishing scams skyrocketed 466%, comprising 32% of all scam reports. The company protected over 4 million users from Scam-Yourself Attacks, while fake browser update scams grew 17x compared to last quarter. Notably, cybercriminals are increasingly using AI-enhanced techniques, including deepfake influencers and AI-generated personas. Financial threats targeted mobile users through sophisticated banking trojans, while crypto scams linked to the US presidential inauguration resulted in $4 million stolen across 2,000 transactions. Gen continues to combat these evolving threats through its brands including Norton, Avast, and LifeLock.

Positive

• Gen protected over 4 million users from Scam-Yourself Attacks
• People are becoming more vigilant in reporting phishing scams
• Company continues to innovate and adapt its cybersecurity solutions to combat evolving threats

Negative

• 186% surge in breached personal information records
• 466% increase in phishing scam reports
• Fake browser update scams grew 17x compared to previous quarter
• 36% increase in company data breaches
• $4 million stolen through crypto scams related to US presidential inauguration

Insights

Cybersecurity Analyst

Gen's Q1 report reveals alarming surge in AI-enhanced cyberattacks, positioning the company as critical in the evolving digital security landscape.

Gen's latest threat report paints a sobering picture of the rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape in early 2025. The 186% surge in breached personal information and 466% increase in phishing reports indicate we're witnessing a fundamental shift in attack methodologies, not merely incremental growth. Particularly concerning is the 17x increase in fake browser update scams compared to the previous quarter, demonstrating how quickly threat actors can scale effective attack vectors.

What's most significant about these findings is the clear trend toward AI-enhanced personalization in attacks. Cybercriminals are leveraging breached data combined with AI tools to create highly targeted scams that bypass traditional security measures. The emergence of AI-generated personas and deepfake influencers for delivering malicious campaigns represents a concerning evolution in social engineering tactics.

The protection of over 4 million users from Scam-Yourself Attacks demonstrates both the scale of these threats and Gen's effectiveness in countering them. The company's ability to detect and mitigate these sophisticated attacks positions them favorably in the cybersecurity market, especially as these threats continue to evolve.

The financial dimension is particularly noteworthy, with cybercriminals successfully executing a campaign that stole nearly $4 million across 2,000+ transactions during the presidential inauguration. This highlights the growing intersection between high-profile events, deepfake technology, and cryptocurrency theft – a nexus that creates significant financial risk for individuals and institutions alike.

Gen's proactive approach to evolving their cybersecurity solutions against these threats aligns with market demands for more sophisticated protection. Their integrated product portfolio spanning identity protection, scam detection, and mobile security addresses the multi-faceted nature of modern cyber threats, which increasingly target users through multiple attack vectors simultaneously.

Gen Protects Millions of People as Breached Personal Information, Phishing Reports, Fake Browser Update Scams, and Scam-Yourself Attacks Are on the Rise

TEMPE, Ariz. and PRAGUE, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Gen (NASDAQ: GEN), a global leader powering Digital Freedom with a family of trusted brands including Norton, Avast, LifeLock, MoneyLion and more, today released its Q1/2025 Gen Threat Report, highlighting the most significant shifts shaping the global Cyber Safety landscape observed between January and March 2025.

Key report findings include a 186% surge in breached personal information, a 466% increase in phishing reports, growth in fake browser update scams by 17 times the previous quarter's levels, and more than 4 million people protected from Scam-Yourself Attacks, alongside the rise of mobile financial fraud and crypto-related US presidential inauguration scams.  

"Online threats are evolving at a startling pace," said Siggi Stefnisson, Cyber Safety CTO at Gen. "Attackers are moving away from broad, indiscriminate campaigns to highly personalized, AI-enhanced deception. Breached data and AI tools are giving cybercriminals just enough personal information and design sophistication to more easily manipulate people. That's why we constantly evolve our cybersecurity solutions to be an interactive partner in fighting scams and to be one step ahead of cybercriminals."

Notable Trends from the Q1/2025 Gen Threat Report:

Data Breaches Escalate

Data breaches are on the rise, with a 36% increase in the number of breaches faced by companies compared to last quarter. Individual breached records surged by more than 186%, revealing sensitive information such as passwords, emails, and credit card details. Attackers employed more advanced infostealers like Lumma Stealer, making data compromise faster and harder to detect.

Phishing Scams Designed to Bypass Security Filters

Reports of phishing scams rose by a staggering 466% compared to the previous quarter, now making up nearly 32% of all scam submissions to the Norton Genie scam detector.  According to the Norton Genie scam detector platform, phishing is the fastest-growing threat, second only to generic scams, which accounted for 51% of reports. The good news is that people are becoming more wary of potential phishing scams and reporting these messages.

Telemetry data reveals a growing number of phishing campaigns that abuse dynamic DNS services and subdomain providers, as well as free website builders to create deceptive login pages. This means, that by mimicking legitimate login portals and leveraging trusted domains—like recent scams targeting AT&T, Telstra and Xfinity customers—attackers make phishing attempts harder to detect and more likely to succeed. Many of these campaigns create a sense of urgency for potential victims through emails claiming account issues or prompting people to review sensitive documents. Despite sometimes being poorly written, the use of familiar platforms and subdomain tricks allows these scams to bypass security filters and remain highly effective.

Scam-Yourself Attacks and Fake Browser Updates on the Rise

Gen helped protect over 4 million users from Scam-Yourself Attacks in which individuals, through sophisticated deception, are manipulated into infecting their own devices. In one of the most striking evolutions of this type of scam that we observed this quarter, attackers are using AI-generated personas, deepfake influencers and hired actors. They use these personas to deliver their malicious campaigns. This is primarily done through compromised YouTube accounts, leveraging interactive FakeCAPTCHAs and asking people to verify they are human but instead guiding them to give device permissions or download malware.

Fake Update Scams grew to over 17 times last quarter's level. This type of Scam-Yourself Attack tricks people into installing malware under the guise of browser updates.

Financial Threats Thrive on Mobile and Crypto

Mobile financial threats continued to rise, fueled by increasingly sophisticated tactics that target people directly through their smartphones. Malware, like banking trojans, now exploit accessibility features to overlay fake login pages, stealing sensitive data such as crypto wallet credentials. Combined with an uptick in credit and transaction fraud alerts, there's a growing trend of attackers focusing on mobile devices as gateways to people's financial lives.

Digital currencies continue to be a target for financial threats. CryptoCore executed one of its most successful campaigns in early 2025, hinging on the US presidential inauguration. Attackers leveraged deepfake videos of public figures spread through compromised YouTube accounts to steal close to $4 million spread through more than 2,000 transactions.

Gen is always innovating to stay one step ahead of today's evolving cyberthreats. Our trusted family of brands offers powerful solutions to help keep you safe—LifeLock helps people protect their identity, the Norton Cyber Safety lineup comes equipped with Norton Genie scam protection, and products like Avast Mobile Security offer protection for mobile devices, just to name a few.

To learn more about the latest Cyber Safety tips and solutions, visit our blog at https://www.gendigital.com/blog/insights.

The full Gen Threat Report is available now at https://www.gendigital.com/blog/insights/reports/threat-report-q1-2025

About Gen

Gen (NASDAQ: GEN) is a global company dedicated to powering Digital Freedom through its trusted consumer brands including Norton, Avast, LifeLock, MoneyLion and more. The Gen family of consumer brands is rooted in providing financial empowerment and cyber safety for the first digital generations. Today, Gen empowers people to live their digital lives safely, privately and confidently for generations to come. Gen brings award-winning products and services in cybersecurity, online privacy, identity protection and financial wellness to nearly 500 million users in more than 150 countries. Learn more at GenDigital.com.

Media Contacts:

Brittany Posey-Thomas
Gen
Press@GenDigital.com

Courtney Rowles
Edelman for Gen
Courtney.Rowles@edelman.com

 

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SOURCE Gen Digital Inc.

FAQ

What are the key findings from Gen's (GEN) Q1 2025 Threat Report?

Key findings include a 186% surge in breached personal information, 466% increase in phishing reports, 17x growth in fake browser update scams, and protection of 4+ million users from Scam-Yourself Attacks. The report also highlighted increased mobile financial fraud and crypto scams.

How much did phishing attacks increase in Q1 2025 according to Gen (GEN)?

According to Gen's Q1 2025 report, phishing attacks increased by 466% compared to the previous quarter, representing 32% of all scam submissions to the Norton Genie scam detector.

What is a Scam-Yourself Attack as reported by Gen (GEN)?

Scam-Yourself Attacks are sophisticated deception techniques where individuals are manipulated into infecting their own devices, often through AI-generated personas, deepfake influencers, and hired actors using compromised YouTube accounts and fake CAPTCHAs.

How much money was stolen through crypto scams during the 2025 US presidential inauguration according to Gen (GEN)?

According to Gen's report, crypto scams related to the US presidential inauguration resulted in approximately $4 million stolen across more than 2,000 transactions through the CryptoCore campaign.

What new AI-driven cyber threats did Gen (GEN) identify in Q1 2025?

Gen identified cybercriminals using AI-enhanced techniques including deepfake influencers, AI-generated personas, and sophisticated personalized deception methods leveraging breached personal data for more effective scams.