Orange Cyberdefense has released its sixth annual Security Navigator report. Based on research and data from more than 135,000 security events in 160 countries, the report provides a detailed view of the current cyber security landscape, shaped by geopolitical conflict and the increasing sophistication of threat actors.
One of the key findings of the report is that hacktivists are extending their reach to operational technology systems. These systems are critical for operating essential infrastructure in the manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and transportation sectors.
The Security Navigator 2025 attributes 23% of sophisticated attacks targeting operational technology to hacktivists. As such attacks have typically been associated with state actors, the growth of hacktivism reveals a new level of sophistication and risk to critical infrastructure.
46% of operational technology cyber attacks resulted in ‘manipulation of control,’ which means that the adversary managed to manipulate the physical process.
The utilities sector has been heavily affected, with the report finding that it suffered 46% of attacks that directly targeted OT systems. This highlights the continued vulnerability of OT systems to politically motivated cyber-operations.
AI: a double-edged sword in cyber security
The Security Navigator 2025 report also highlights the emergence of AI as a powerful, yet complex tool, with both defensive and offensive cyber security applications. These capabilities are reshaping threat dynamics.
Threat actors, including state-sponsored actors, are leveraging GenAI to create realistic phishing content, fake images, and deepfakes to deceive large audiences, which is supporting their deployment of ‘cognitive attacks.’
On the defensive side, the report found that AI is beneficial for detecting hard-to-identify threats. AI-driven systems have improved detection rates for advanced threats like ‘beaconing’ – a tactic where malware sends subtle, periodic signals to command-and-control servers – reducing incident response times by up to 30% as organizations use AI to identify and intercept these signals before damage can escalate. However, the report also warns about vulnerabilities in GenAI solutions and urges businesses to implement strict access rights to sensitive data and systems, ensure isolation between tenants, and educate users about the risk of data leaks in prompts.
