Türkiye Cyber ​​Attack Report Announced

Introduction: Cybersecurity balances are changing in the transition from 2024 to 2025

WatchGuard’s 2025 Türkiye cyber attack report clearly reveals the radical transformation in the security environment. The total number of attacks, recorded as 1.5 million last year, decreased to 300,035 this year, a decrease of over 80 percent. However, the decline does not mean that security problems have completely decreased. Threat actors have changed their approach; Quantitative decline comes with the transformation of quality. While network-based attacks are decreasing, there is a slight increase in malware attacks. This situation makes it necessary for institutions to redesign their defense strategies.

2025 data: breakdowns in attack types

The most striking findings of the report stem from the change in attack types. Network-based attacks decreased significantly compared to the previous year, falling to 61,599 in total. This decrease translates into an average of approximately 169 attacks per day and has significantly reduced the burden on security teams. However, this relief is offset by an increase in malware attacks. The malware total reached 238,436 attacks, representing a 1.37% increase over network attacks. This shows that threat actors are changing tactics and using more sophisticated tools with distributed threats.

Background of new generation attacks: Living off the land and the rise of “civilian-grade” vehicles

According to the report, attackers now prefer to exploit existing tools and vulnerabilities. This strategy, called living off the land, makes it possible to continue operations for months and makes detection difficult. It is emphasized that traditional antivirus solutions alone may be insufficient in this environment, and security teams should adopt multi-layered defense approaches.

Interacting defense strategies: MFA, EDR/NDR and Zero Trust models

Three basic approaches stand out as the basic principles in ensuring security:

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): The most critical line of defense for account security. It goes beyond simple passwords, making it harder to compromise user accounts.
• Advanced Threat Detection (EDR/NDR): Detects inside-file and outside-file attacks with behavioral analysis and anomaly detection. It provides a much broader view than traditional antiviruses.
• Zero Trust Model: It is based on the principle of “don’t trust, verify first”. All access is controlled by strict rules, regardless of location, and trust is not assumed to be well-known.

These three approaches alone may not be sufficient; however, when used together, it significantly increases resilience against advanced threats such as Living off the land. In this context, institutions; It should restructure identity management, intelligence sharing, threat intelligence integration and security operations center (SOC) processes.

Practical roadmap for institutions: Strengthening defense in 6 steps

1) Identity and access security – Enforce MFA on all critical accounts, put additional protections in place for privileged accounts. Multi-factor authentication eliminates single-step verification that would create security vulnerabilities.

2) Advanced threat detection – Deploy EDR and NDR solutions across all endpoints and network layers. Quickly detect and isolate threats with behavioral analysis and endpoint isolation.

3) Zero Trust architecture – Apply device- and user-based access policies. According to the zero trust principle, every access request is authenticated and authorized.

4) Security automation – Establish automatic response mechanisms to events with security information and event management (SIEM). Predetermined rules enable rapid intervention in recurring events.

5) Software updates and vulnerability management – ​​The latest software versions and security patches are constantly applied to all assets. Penetration tests and vulnerability scans are repeated periodically.

6) Security awareness and training – Make employees aware of social engineering attacks. Minimize errors in the “kill chain” with simulations and regular training.

The most effective application examples: Inferences from Türkiye and global examples

For institutions in Türkiye, the 2025 report shows that security investments and increased awareness reduce the volume of attacks. But threats are evolving; This requires that institutional defenses not be one-dimensional. Sample applications stand out under the following heading:

• Endpoint and network integration – Deploy EDR/NDR solutions with deepened integration between endpoints and network infrastructure. In this way, attack patterns are detected earlier and made traceable.
• Special protection of administrative accounts – Microsegmentation and special security policies are applied for authorized accounts. This tightens the boundaries of movement, starting from basic calculations.
• SIR (Security Incident Response) plan for incident response – Includes step-by-step incident response procedures, communication plan and stakeholder management. Realistic scenarios are tested with practical exercises.

Measures integrated into daily life to prevent new generation threats

Beyond the institutional context, individual security awareness is also critical. Human error can increase the effects of Living off the land strategies. Therefore, practical measures for daily life can be as follows:

• Managing users’ credentials – Complexity of passwords and periodic change policies should be supported by MFA. Password managers should be preferred as a secure application.
• Network security – Firewall rules should be reinforced with VPN or SD-WAN based solutions for secure access between home and work. Computers should be protected with up-to-date antivirus and EDR agents.
• Backup – Risks of ransomware or data loss should be minimized with strategic backups. Backups must be isolated and tested.

Future predictions: The direction of cybersecurity in 2026 and beyond

Data for 2025 shows that security no longer depends on technical solutions alone. Teamwork, data-driven threat intelligence, cloud security and a multi-layered defense approach will be the cornerstones of cybersecurity. In particular, an internal security culture strengthens the capacity to detect rare threats and respond quickly.

From content to outside: Action-oriented content and actionable steps

This content provides a road map for institutions to take practical steps. The following action chart is designed to quickly implement a security program:

Sources and references

This analysis is supported by data from WatchGuard’s 2025 Türkiye cyber attack report, which brings together local and global security trends. Current attack examples and defense strategies aim to enable security teams to take quick action and strengthen proactive defense.