Dark web threats and dark market predictions for 2025

This report reviews 2024 underground cybercrime trends—growing use of malware cryptors for AV evasion, the evolution and market diversity of loaders, the surge of crypto “drainers,” sustained black-traffic schemes, and steady dynamics of crypto-mixing services—and presents 2025 predictions: more data breaches via contractor compromise, migration of activity from Telegram back to dark web forums, increased law-enforcement takedowns prompting deeper operational secrecy, expansion of MaaS for stealers and drainers with traffer recruitment, fragmentation of ransomware groups and copycat DLS sites, and escalating hacktivism and ransomware activity in the Middle East.