Full Report
Introduction Check Point Research (CPR) continuously tracks threats, following the clues that lead to major players and incidents in the threat landscape. Whether it’s high-end financially-motivated campaigns or state-sponsored activity, our focus is to figure out what the threat is, report our findings to the relevant parties, and make sure Check Point customers stay protected. […] The post 2025: The Untold Stories of Check Point Research appeared first on Check Point Research.
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: Check Point Research Unveils "Untold Stories" of 2025 Threat Landscape
## Summary
Check Point Research (CPR) has released a comprehensive retrospective on the "shadow" threats of 2025, highlighting a shift away from novel tooling toward the innovative recombination of familiar techniques. The report emphasizes a surge in identity-centric intrusions, cloud-based command and control, and state-sponsored espionage targeting critical infrastructure and government entities globally.
## Key Details
- **Date:** February 23, 2026 (Reporting on 2025 activity)
- **Companies Involved:** Check Point Software Technologies (Check Point Research)
- **Category:** Market Analysis & Threat Intelligence Report
## The Story
In a strategic effort to demonstrate the depth of its intelligence gathering, Check Point Research (CPR) published its "Untold Stories" of 2025. This report details the significant portion of threat hunting that typically occurs behind the scenes to bolster product protections without necessarily reaching public blog posts in real-time.
The year 2025 was characterized not by "silver bullet" malware, but by the sophisticated use of trusted enterprise pathways. Major highlights include the **ToolShell** exploitation by Chinese-nexus actors against North American government targets, and the rise of **AiTM (Adversary-in-the-Middle)** credential theft targeting high-value researchers in US think tanks. Geopolitically, the report tracks a highly fragmented landscape: Russian-affiliated pressure in Eastern Europe, Iranian-nexus destructive activity (wipers) in the Middle East, and sustained Chinese-nexus IT supply chain targeting in Taiwan.
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved
- **Check Point:** Solidifies its position as a top-tier intelligence provider, reinforcing the value proposition of its "Infinity" platform by showcasing the proprietary research that fuels its automated defenses.
### For Competitors
- **Competitive Benchmarking:** Rivals like CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, and Mandiant (Google) face continued pressure to prove their visibility into specific geopolitical theaters (e.g., the Moldovan elections or Central Asian government targeting).
### For Customers
- **Actionable Intelligence:** Provides CISOs with a roadmap for 2026 budgeting, emphasizing that investment in identity security and cloud visibility is more critical than defending against "zero-day" novelties.
### For the Market
- **Shift in Priority:** The market is likely to see a pivot from "malware detection" toward "behavioral and identity posture management" as attackers increasingly "live off the land" using remote administration tools and cloud hosting.
## Technical Implications
The report notes a technical trend toward **DLL side-loading chains** and **ClickFix** social engineering patterns. Attackers are increasingly leveraging cloud infrastructure for Command and Control (C2) to blend in with legitimate enterprise traffic, making traditional perimeter defense less effective.
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** Check Point is positioning itself as a "Geopolitical Sentinel," moving beyond signature-based antivirus into the realm of global strategic intelligence.
- **Competitive Advantage:** By highlighting "untold" stories, CPR demonstrates a massive data lake and analysis capability that serves as a barrier to entry for smaller security startups.
- **Challenges:** The reliance of attackers on "familiar techniques" means security vendors must reduce false positives in behavioral alerts—a notoriously difficult technical challenge.
## Industry Reactions
- **Analyst Opinions:** Analysts find the report a sobering reminder that the "basics" (patching, identity) remain the primary failure points, despite the industry's obsession with AI-driven threats.
- **Market Response:** Likely reinforcement of the "platformization" trend, as customers seek vendors who can correlate identity, cloud, and endpoint data under a single research umbrella.
## Future Outlook
- **Predictions:** Expect 2026 to see a rise in "Identity-as-an-Entry-Point," where attackers skip malware entirely in favor of authenticated access.
- **What to Watch for:** Increased targeting of IoT/OT infrastructure (like internet-connected cameras) as a pivot point into corporate networks.
## For Security Professionals
Practitioners should prioritize **Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)** and audit their **Cloud Service Provider (CSP)** footprints. The report confirms that actor "novelty" is now found in operational execution rather than code, meaning defenders must focus on the *process* of an attack rather than just the *file* used.