ESET Threat Report: AI-driven attacks on the rise; NFC

Globenewswire • December 16, 2025

ESET researchers have identified new MuddyWater (Iran-aligned cyberespionage group) activity primarily targeting critical infrastructure organizations in Israel, with one confirmed target in EgyptThe...

ESET researchers discovered that China-aligned threat group PlushDaemon performs adversary-in-the-middle attacks using a previously undocumented network implant we've named EdgeStepper.It reroutes...

The full story

This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

Rise of AI-Driven Attacks and NFC Threats in Cybersecurity ESET Research reports a significant increase in AI-powered malware and NFC threats in late 2025. The MuddyWater group, aligned with Iran, has been targeting critical infrastructure in Israel and Egypt, while the China-aligned PlushDaemon group has employed a new network implant called EdgeStepper for adversary-in-the-middle attacks. These developments highlight a growing trend in sophisticated cyber threats. 2 sources 24

Extracted Entities

ESET Threat Report: AI-driven attacks on the rise; NFC

The full story

Extracted Entities

APT Groups (2)

Attack Types (1)

Countries (1)

Domains (1)

Malware (1)