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2025 Crowdstrike Global Threat Report 

9 days ago

Based on the 2025 CrowdStrike Global Threat Report, here is a targeted summary focused on the threat landscape involving the Russian Federation and its influence across neighboring countries, Central Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (MEA):


🇷🇺 Russia: Threat Activity Overview (2024)

CrowdStrike continues to track multiple Russia-nexus adversaries, generally named with the suffix "BEAR". Key areas of concern include:

  • Information Operations (IO): Russia-aligned adversaries used large language models (LLMs) and generative AI to drive influence campaigns, especially in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. These included creating fake narratives, deepfakes, and inauthentic social media posts.
  • Election Interference: Russia conducted disinformation campaigns targeting elections in Israel, the U.S., and European nations, leveraging LLMs to generate text, images, and videos.
  • Cyber Capabilities: Russia-linked actors displayed mature CNO (Computer Network Operations) capabilities, engaging in stealthy, hands-on intrusions that often bypass traditional malware defenses.
  • Cooperation and Tool Sharing: Russian actors frequently collaborate with other cybercriminal groups (e.g., CHATTY SPIDER and WANDERING SPIDER) for ransomware deployment and callback phishing campaigns.

🌍 Central Europe and MEA: Russian Influence and Cyber Activity

While the report focuses heavily on Russia’s cyber operations within global election and disinformation efforts, its influence in Central Europe and MEA regions is primarily indirect, often competing with China or Iran in targeting and influence strategies. Key points include:

  • Disinformation as a Hybrid Warfare Tool: Russia-aligned actors used generative AI and LLMs to generate tailored IO campaigns across Europe and MENA, designed to exacerbate political division or undermine NATO-aligned governments.
  • Cloud and Infrastructure Exploitation: Russian cyber operators were part of a broader trend of abusing cloud environments, compromising infrastructure via valid credentials and using remote management tools. This tactic is increasingly seen in both Europe and the Middle East.
  • Ransomware and Access Brokerage: Russian groups have also engaged in initial access sales via the criminal underground, enabling threat actors worldwide (especially in unstable regions) to purchase access to European and Middle Eastern corporate and government networks.

🔮 Anticipated Trends in 2025

  • Escalation in Speed: Russian and affiliated adversaries are moving faster, with breakout times now clocked as low as 51 seconds — requiring near-instant detection and response from defenders.
  • Expansion into Africa and MENA: Russian-aligned actors may expand operations into Africa and the broader Middle East, mirroring China’s focus on these regions for economic and strategic gain.
  • Continued Election Targeting: With key elections scheduled in several democracies in 2025 and 2026, Russian cyber influence operations will likely continue or escalate.

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CrowdStrikeGlobalThreatReport2025.pdf   11.92 MB   1 version
Uploaded - Thu August 21, 2025