This UNIDIR report examines the key developments in the global cyber threat landscape in 2025, focusing on their implications for international peace and security. Informed by public reporting, expert insights and the outcomes of the UNIDIR Cyber Stability Conference 2024, the report provides a structured overview of evolving threats, changing threat actor dynamics and the disruptive influence of emerging technologies.

Organized into three interrelated sections, the report explores:

  • Evolving cyberthreats: From attacks on critical infrastructure and supply chains to the rise of ransomware, disinformation and cybercrime, this section analyses how the growing scale and complexity of cyberattacks pose systemic risks to national, regional and global stability. It explains how these threats operate and includes case-based illustrations of their real-world impacts on peace and security.
  • Cyberthreat actors: Examining the increasingly blurred lines between State and non-State actors in cyberspace. This section explores the motivations and tactics of various actors, including States, cybercriminals, hacktivists and private entities, and highlights how overlapping behaviours may complicate response.
  • Emerging technologies: Focusing on artificial intelligence and quantum computing, this section outlines how technological advancements are reshaping offensive and defensive cyber operations. The report considers how these technologies offer new opportunities for cybersecurity while also creating new vulnerabilities and strategic risks for the international community.

Throughout, the report provides explanatory textboxes designed to help diplomats and policymakers better understand how cyberattacks work at a technical level, as well as case studies that concretely demonstrate the international security impacts of malicious cyber activity. By demystifying complex technical concepts and contemporary trends, the report hopes to support national and international deliberations to strengthen resilience, reduce risks and advance an open, secure, stable, accessible and peaceful cyberspace for all.

 

Citation: UNIDIR Security and Technology Programme, Securing Cyberspace for Peace: Insights into Cyberthreats and International Security in 2025 (Geneva: UNIDIR, 2026).