State-sponsored threats: Different objectives, similar access paths

Talos' 2025 Year in Review summarizes prolific state-sponsored cyber activity from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, noting rapid exploitation of new and long-standing vulnerabilities, persistent access via web shells/backdoors and credential theft, frequent use of known malware families (e.g., DCRAT, Remcos, Smoke Loader), large-scale financially motivated operations (including a reported $1.5B cryptocurrency heist), and correlations between geopolitical events and spikes in offensive activity; the report also provides defensive guidance prioritizing patching, identity security, and increased network visibility.