The Biggest Cyberattacks of 2025 and What They Reveal About Hidden Data Risks

Introduction

2025 has already become a defining year for cyber incidents. Large global brands have faced breaches involving millions of customers, significant operational disruption, and rapid loss of public trust. The lesson across all these cases is consistent. Organisations struggle not only because attackers are advanced, but because their internal visibility is limited.

Most companies do not know where their sensitive data truly lives. When a breach occurs, the real damage often comes from unmonitored files, forgotten storage, unsecured exports, or older data copies that were never meant to remain in the system.

This article examines three major cyber incidents from 2025 using publicly verified information. It explains what happened, how the companies were affected, and why these cases highlight the importance of data discovery and visibility for every organisation.

1. Coupang’s 2025 Data Breach

Coupang, one of South Korea’s largest e-commerce platforms, confirmed that millions of customer accounts were accessed without authorisation. The scale of exposure was significant, affecting personal details such as names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, past purchases, and order histories.

The impact went far beyond immediate security concerns. Customers questioned the company’s internal data practices and demanded transparency. Regulators began examining whether the company had retained unnecessary customer information or maintained proper security controls. Market analysts noted a visible drop in public confidence in the brand.

What this incident teaches

Coupang’s breach shows that the biggest damage does not come from attackers alone. It comes from the presence of large volumes of sensitive data stored across systems that organisations may not fully track. When companies grow quickly, they often create data copies for analytics, operations, and customer experience. Over time, these copies become difficult to manage and secure.

The lesson is clear. High growth companies must focus on data visibility as much as operational speed.

2. Qantas 2025 Cyber Incident

Qantas, the flagship airline of Australia, confirmed that personal information of more than a million customers had been compromised. Reports indicated that booking records, travel histories, and personal identifiers were among the exposed data.

The consequences were immediate. Customers demanded answers, regulators moved quickly, and business travellers raised concerns about the safety of their personal information. Airlines depend heavily on trust because they operate in a safety-sensitive industry. This incident created both financial and reputational strain on the company.

What this incident teaches

Airlines store extremely sensitive customer data that moves across many internal systems. Older booking exports, shared spreadsheets, staff devices, operational folders, and archived customer logs often remain unmonitored. When the attack surfaced, the challenge was not just stopping the breach but understanding the full scope of what had been exposed.

The Qantas incident shows how deeply organisations depend on internal data visibility to evaluate breach impact accurately.

3. Kering Group Cyberattack

Kering, the parent company of global brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, faced a cyberattack that reportedly affected customer details from certain regions. While financial losses were not fully disclosed, the reputational impact for luxury brands was significant. Customers expect premium privacy standards from high-end companies.

The attack demonstrated how data from retail systems, loyalty platforms, marketing tools, and internal communications can become targets when visibility is limited.

What this incident teaches

Luxury brands often collect personal data for customer experience enhancement, personalised communication, and membership programs. Over time, copies of customer information spread across different internal teams. If these copies remain undiscovered or poorly monitored, they become silent liabilities.

Kering’s case highlights that even companies with strong global recognition are vulnerable when sensitive information is stored in environments that lack oversight.

Why These Cyberattacks Matter for Every Organisation in 2025

Across all the above incidents, a common pattern emerges. Organisations struggle not because they lack security tools, but because they lack clarity about where their sensitive data actually exists.

Cyber incidents become severe when • older data is stored longer than required • exported files remain on shared drives • sensitive information resides on local devices • cloud folders are not monitored • archived customer data is not reviewed • multiple versions of the same data exist

This hidden data creates hidden risk. Attackers do not need sophisticated access when unmonitored files already exist within easily reachable environments.

The biggest cyberattacks of 2025 show that visibility is not optional. It is foundational.

The EzSecure Perspective

Cyberattacks often reveal internal gaps that organisations did not realise existed. Many companies assume their sensitive data is stored only in official systems. In reality, sensitive information spreads across cloud drives, unstructured folders, shared documents, legacy exports, and internal collaboration tools.

EzSecure focuses on helping organisations discover this data. By identifying where personal and sensitive information lives, organisations gain the clarity required to remove unnecessary copies, secure exposed locations, and minimise the impact of potential incidents.

Data discovery is not a compliance requirement alone. It is an operational necessity. When organisations know their data environment clearly, they can respond to threats faster, reduce breach impact, and build long term trust with customers and stakeholders.

Conclusion

The major cyberattacks of 2025 show that even the world’s most established brands are vulnerable when internal data visibility is limited. Attackers exploit the places where organisations store forgotten, unmonitored, or unnecessary data. The financial losses that result from these incidents are only part of the problem. Reputational damage, regulatory scrutiny, and customer distrust create long lasting consequences.

The lesson is unmistakable. Organisations must understand their data before they can protect it. The more visibility they have, the lower the risk and the higher their ability to respond confidently.

If companies want to avoid becoming the next headline, data discovery should become a priority today, not tomorrow.