- Google tracked 90 Zero Day exploits in 2025
- Enterprise systems are increasingly browser-focused
- AI should speed up attack and defense cycles
The Google Threat Intelligence Team (GTIG) tracked and helped fix 90 zero-day vulnerabilities exploited in real-world attacks in 2025, according to a new report.
While this figure is definitely worrying, Google hints that it could rise further in the coming years, all thanks to AI.
In its report, GTIG said the 2025 volume is lower than the record of 2023, when the company fixed exactly 100 zero-day bugs – but it is higher than the 78 bugs of 2024, leading experts to suggest a “trend toward stabilization at these levels.”
AI on both sides
Although the number of zero-day malware patches has remained somewhat constant over the past five years, the GTIG report suggests things are changing rapidly. For example, a “structural shift” began to occur in 2024, towards increased exploitation of businesses.
Both in raw numbers (43) and in proportion (48%), the number of vulnerabilities affecting enterprise technology has broken records and now represents almost half of all zero-days exploited last year. “We observed a sustained decline in detected browser exploits to historic lows, while also seeing an increase in abuse of operating system vulnerabilities,” the researchers added.
In addition to operating system vulnerabilities, criminals continue to target networking and security equipment, primarily for initial access.
Another major structural change underway is the deployment of AI on both sides of the cybersecurity domain. Google expects attackers to use AI to automate and scale attacks by “accelerating reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, and exploit development.” As attackers advance more quickly in these phases, defenders will have to adapt or face the consequences.
This adjustment will include tools such as agent solutions that can proactively discover and help remediate previously unknown security vulnerabilities.
“Defenders should prepare when, not if, a compromise occurs,” Google said, sharing a non-exhaustive set of approaches and guidelines for defending against zero-day exploitation.
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