Ransomware and GenAI risks are on the rise.
In December 2025, organisations globally faced sustained cyber pressure, as the average number of cyber attacks per organisation per week reached 2 027, a 1% increase from the previous month and a 9% increase from December 2024. In SA, companies faced 1 850 attacks per week, with financial services, transportation and logistics, and government sectors being prime targets.
This is according to December 2025 Global Cyber Attack Statistics by Check Point Research, the threat intelligence arm of Check Point Software Technologies.
According to the statistics, Latin America was the hardest hit, with companies experiencing an average of 3 065 cyber attacks per week, a 26% year-over-year increase.
In contrast, Africa saw a decline in attacks, with Nigeria (4 622 attacks per week) and Angola (4 002 attacks per week) being the most targeted countries on the continent.
The report’s findings highlight the evolving cyber threat landscape, with ransomware and GenAI-driven data risks posing significant challenges to companies worldwide.
Ransomware attacks jumped 60% year over year, with 945 publicly reported incidents in December. Qilin was the most active ransomware operator, responsible for 18% of publicly disclosed attacks.
“Ransomware continues to scale through industrialised operations, while unmanaged GenAI usage is creating widespread data exposure at enterprise level,” said Omer Dembinsky, data research manager at Check Point Research.
The report noted the education sector was the most targeted industry globally, with 4 349 cyber attacks per week; followed by government (2 666 attacks per week); and associations and non-profits (2 509 attacks per week).
The widespread adoption of GenAI tools has introduced new cyber security risks, with one in 27 GenAI prompts posing a high risk of sensitive data leakage.
Experts warn that companies must prioritise prevention-first security, real-time AI threat intelligence and strong governance over AI tools to mitigate these risks.
Hendrik de Bruin, head of security consulting at Check Point Software, added: “Strengthening ransomware resilience, deploying AI-powered prevention and enforcing clear GenAI governance will be critical to reducing cyber risk in the year ahead.”
