DigiCert has revealed its Q4 2025 RADAR Threat Intelligence Brief, offering insights into the interplay between global internet demand and cyber threats during the final quarter of the year. The report, based on DigiCert's expansive security platform data, highlights the challenges and resilience needed to navigate today's complex cyber landscape.
The report reveals that the year-end surge in online activity, driven by business cycles, consumer commerce, travel, and device activations, aligns with a noticeable uptick in malicious activities. This correlation accentuates the importance of implementing robust security strategies to withstand such recurrent pressures.
Key Findings from the Q4 2025 RADAR Brief:
- Elevated Demand for Online Content: Consistent high growth in internet traffic, exacerbated by major events, shows the erasure of "off-peak" periods. Constant levels of internet scanning and misconfigured system requests indicate an all-time high in background "noise". This new norm necessitates systems that can manage persistent demand without relying on fleeting recovery windows.
- Intensifying DDoS Activity: Compared to short disruptions, DDoS attacks are evolving into prolonged strains, significantly testing infrastructure resilience. With an increase in attack duration and scale, the risk of performance degradation and operational costs heightens, demanding sustained defensive efforts.
- Focused Application-Layer Threats: Automated probing and testing dominate web application attacks, meticulously searching for vulnerabilities over time. These quieter attacks are challenging to detect, increasing the likelihood of security breaches from small misconfigurations.
The report emphasises that resilience now involves preparing for ongoing demand and attack pressure across multiple channels simultaneously. As noted by Michael Smith, AppSec CTO at DigiCert, the emergence of threats like the Aisuru and Kimwolf botnets further challenges organisations to strengthen their defences to accommodate heightened operational demands.
