Many in the tech industry were holding their breath as they watched the time-dependent results of their extensive “Year 2000 projects” — also called “Y2K” for short. The world went happily forward after their COBOL remediations were generally successful, and started offering new web portals, innovative services and exciting new technologies in the new century.
But little did we know that just around the corner, in March 2000, the dot-com bubble would burst. Perhaps even more significant, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, would forever change the way that security was seen around the world.
LOOKING BACK TO 2024 PREDICTIONS
In December 2023, we released "The Top 24 Security Predictions for 2024 (Part 1)," where we highlighted the top industry cybersecurity trends and forecasts expected for 2024. The common themes were:
- AI will revolutionize everything and everyone — for better and for worse. Here are some of those specific predictions around AI and GenAI:
- More effective cyber attacks than ever before against everyone, with bad actors leveraging GenAI tools to find vulnerabilities in critical sectors.
- More AI threat actors, AI threat vectors and AI code assistants introduce further vulnerabilities (BeyondTrust).
- Use of AI-based cyber defense is a must for enterprises to keep up.
- Bring your own AI (BYOAI) for 60 percent of us, as enterprise solutions lag (Forrester).
- Shadow AI will grow along with governance challenges.
- Productivity improvements will drive rapid and widespread adoption of GenAI tools.
- More regulation, laws, policies, data privacy and ethics rules regarding appropriate use.
- Uptick in sophisticated deepfakes and business email compromise (BEC) using GenAI to attack.
- More voice and video impersonations, including particular accents and targeted executive account takeover using social media and personal accounts.
- Focus on various attacks against LLMs.
- CISOs will get more power and a broader role for several years (Gartner).
- Election cyber attacks globally will be center stage. Specifically:
- Misinformation on elections in social media.
- Voting machine and virtual cyber attacks.
- Data surrounding voter lists, people, process and technology cyber attacks.
- More cyber attacks in space, including overall programs, cyber arms race in space including satellites and other next-generation vehicles.
- Ransomware growing and evolving, gaining access and targeted ID management using more sophisticated phishing and social media compromises.
- Use of breached credentials to log in rather than hack in. This data is available for sale on the dark web from many years of data breaches.
- Supply chain attacks will grow and evolve with developers targeted in supply chain attacks via software package managers (Google Cloud).
- Cyber insurance market will continue to grow and evolve. Most reports say prices will stabilize.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN 2025?
While meteorologists have vastly improved weather forecasting, predicting events or even offering detailed insights regarding global cyber trends and technology advances is still a discipline that is evolving.
Indeed, many companies are running away from the predictions, and are doubling down on words like "trends" and "forecasts." For example, Google Cloud writes: “When looking at the year ahead, we never make predictions. Instead, we look at the trends we are already seeing, and provide realistic forecasts of what we expect to see in the wide world of cybersecurity.”
While the top cybersecurity industry reports are well-refined, clearly presented documents with video support and more, other forecasts, predictions and trends are buried in YouTube videos, conference overviews and online webcasts that are highly informative, but difficult to find. What is clear is that industry experts like to try and connect the dots and see what is likely coming next in cybersecurity.
That’s what this annual security prediction roundup will cover, from the perspective of the top cybersecurity industry companies, thought leaders, tech executives and journalists. Every year I catalog and rank the best reports in the cyber industry to see who has made a top New Year’s security prediction list and checked it twice.
This year there are so many good predictions that we’ve split the list into two parts. Look for part two to be released on or before next Sunday, Dec. 29.
The top 10 cybersecurity trends for 2025 which keep showing up in the best industry prediction reports:
1. "Agentic AI" Emerges as a Hot New Opportunity for Everyone — and also a Potential new Cyber Threat Vector (Later)
- Autonomous AI systems: Agentic AI, capable of independently planning and acting to achieve specific goals, will be exploited by threat actors. These AI agents can automate cyber attacks, reconnaissance and exploitation, increasing attack speed and precision.
- Weaponized decision-making: Malicious AI agents may adapt in real time, bypassing traditional defenses and enhancing the complexity of attacks.
- "Pig butchering" scams and vishing: AI will enhance scams like “pig butchering” (long-term financial fraud) and voice phishing (vishing), making social engineering attacks harder to detect.
- Deepfakes and impersonation: Sophisticated AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic voices will enable identity theft, fraud and disruption of security protocols.
- Legitimate tools exploited: Attackers will increasingly use trusted applications and tools to deliver ransomware campaigns.
- Quantum-proof ransomware: Cyber criminals will prepare for post-quantum cryptography by adapting ransomware capabilities for future resilience.
- Open source vulnerabilities: Cyber criminals will target open source ecosystems, exploiting code dependencies to disrupt organizations.
- Cloud and multivendor risks: Cloud environments will be key targets as attackers exploit weak links in complex cloud supply chains.
- Cyber crime-as-a-service (CaaS): Automated hacking tools, powered by AI, will proliferate on dark web marketplaces, enabling low-skilled actors to execute advanced attacks.
- Shadow AI risks: Unmonitored AI tools and "shadow AI" deployments will create hidden vulnerabilities within enterprise systems.
- The "Big Four" actors (Russia, China, Iran, North Korea): Espionage, cyber crime and disinformation campaigns will continue to align with geopolitical interests.
- Hacktivist alliances: Cyber attacks driven by ideological or political agendas will escalate, targeting governments, businesses and critical infrastructure.
- Harvest now, decrypt later: Attackers will stockpile encrypted data, anticipating quantum computing breakthroughs to decrypt sensitive information.
- Quantum-safe readiness: Organizations must transition to quantum-resistant cryptography and inventory their cryptographic assets to protect data.
- Billions of IoT targets: The rapid expansion of IoT devices and sensors will make them prime targets for cyber attacks.
- Edge vulnerabilities: Edge computing environments, critical to real-time operations, will face heightened threats from sophisticated attackers.
- Security "co-pilots": AI-driven security operations centers (SOCs) will improve threat detection, automate incident response and enhance visibility across environments.
- Adaptive AI defenses: Organizations will increasingly rely on AI tools to counter AI-driven threats, creating a cycle of AI-powered attack and defense.
- Materiality of cyber risks: Governments will introduce clearer definitions of what constitutes a reportable cybersecurity incident.
- Stricter cyber insurance and regulations: Companies will face growing compliance demands, including data residency requirements and cyber risk assessments.
KEY TAKEAWAY
From AI-enhanced scams to the rise of quantum threats and ransomware evolution, the cybersecurity landscape will be dominated by AI, automation and expanding attack surfaces. Organizations must adapt by investing in robust defenses, quantum-safe solutions and AI-powered security frameworks to stay resilient.
TOP SECURITY INDUSTRY PREDICTIONS/TRENDS/FORECASTS FOR 2025
As always, we encourage you to go to each of these reports and read the expert advice, recommended actions to be taken and many further details. Some of these reports offer references and detailed research on why the trends and predictions are relevant.
Regardless, our intention is to just point you toward the best materials and provide a snapshot of some of the items.
1) Trend Micro
Trend Micro is back at the top of the list as the best security prediction report, as their 2025 report The Artificial Future – Trend Micro Security Predictions for 2025 offers in-depth predictions, references, multiple types of supporting materials, creativity, interactive graphics and everything you want to see in a great report. In addition to the PDF version, check out their interactive version which contains easy-to-use graphics that highlight key terms.
· AI Age Scams: Deepfakes, malicious digital twins and AI tools abound. Many detailed examples are given, such as “pig butchering” and mis/disinformation campaigns. Other AI-enabled activities to watch out for include AI model web scraping, AI software engineers, agentic AI, improved scalability of cyber attacks and AI supply chain attacks.
· AI in Enterprises: Automation will cloak flaws from human eyes.
· APT Maximum Impact: Advanced criminal groups versus cloud environments and supply chains.
· Vulnerabilities: Memory management and mobility innovation vulnerabilities.
· Ransomware: Growth through compromising legitimate tools and applications.
· Attack Tool Trends: More efficient information harvesting and malvertising assaults.
Conclusion — “Malicious actors will go full throttle in mining the potential of AI in making cyber crime easier, faster and deadlier. But this emerging and ever-evolving technology can also be made to work for enterprise security and protection by harnessing it for threat intelligence, asset profile management, attack path prediction and remediation guidance. As SOCs catch up to secure innovations still and yet unraveling, protecting enterprises from tried and tested modes of attack remains essential. While innovation makes for novel ways to strike, criminals will still utilize what is easy and what has worked for them for years.”
2) Google Cloud/Mandiant
Google dropped one spot this year, and they prefer the term “forecast” over “prediction.” You can get a PDF of the Google Cloud Security Cybersecurity Forecast 2025 here.
- Attacker Use of Artificial Intelligence: Threat actors will increasingly use AI for sophisticated phishing, vishing and social engineering attacks. They will also leverage deepfakes for identity theft, fraud and bypassing security measures.
- AI for Information Operations (IO): IO actors will use AI to scale content creation, produce more persuasive content and enhance inauthentic personas.
- The Big Four: Russia, China, Iran and North Korea will remain active, engaging in espionage operations, cyber crime and information operations aligned with their geopolitical interests.
- Ransomware and Multifaceted Extortion: Ransomware and multifaceted extortion will continue to be the most disruptive form of cyber crime, impacting various sectors and countries.
- Infostealer Malware: Infostealer malware will continue to be a major threat, enabling data breaches and account compromises.
- Democratization of Cyber Capabilities: Increased access to tools and services will lower barriers to entry for less-skilled actors.
- Compromised Identities: Compromised identities in hybrid environments will pose significant risks.
- Web3 and Crypto Heists: Web3 and cryptocurrency organizations will increasingly be targeted by attackers seeking to steal digital assets.
- Faster Exploitation and More Vendors Targeted: The time to exploit vulnerabilities will continue to decrease, and the range of targeted vendors will expand.
Google's recommendations include:
- Adopt Cloud-Native Security Solutions: Organizations are urged to embrace scalable, cloud-native security information and event management (SIEM) solutions. These tools improve threat detection and response by integrating logs from cloud and endpoint systems and automating incident management with security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) features.
- Implement Robust Identity and Access Management (IAM): Strong IAM practices, including phishing-resistant multifactor authentication and shorter session lifetimes for sensitive applications, are crucial to mitigate risks from compromised identities in hybrid environments.
- Prepare for Post-Quantum Cryptography: Organizations should start transitioning to quantum-safe cryptographic standards, inventory their cryptographic use cases, rotate encryption keys, and stay informed about developments in quantum computing to protect sensitive data against future threats.
- Invest in Enhanced Threat Monitoring and Intelligence: Continuous threat monitoring and intelligence gathering are emphasized as critical for identifying and mitigating emerging threats, such as faster exploitation of vulnerabilities and sophisticated infostealer malware campaigns.
- Strengthen Compliance and Incident Response Capabilities: Compliance with evolving regulations like the NIS2 directive in Europe is essential. Organizations must enhance their incident response capabilities by conducting regular risk assessments, investing in staff training and adopting proactive security measures like supply chain risk management.
One more from Google: It's quantum chip "Willow" just made history. Learn about it here:
Once again, Watchguard offers an excellent report and supporting materials in their 2025 cybersecurity predictions. They open this way: “What risks will shape the cybersecurity landscape in 2025? In this year's predictions, the WatchGuard Threat Lab explores how threat actors will use multimodal AI to streamline attacks, target vulnerabilities in software supply chains, and exploit GenAI's growing capabilities to infiltrate networks and access sensitive information.”
· Malicious AI Will Create Attack Chains
· Threat Actors Move to the Long Con
· Bad Actors Profit With GenAI
· CISO Becomes the Least Desirable Role in Business
· Disruption of Threat Actors Starts to Have an Impact
· Organizations Will Rely on AI-Powered Detection
I always like the long-form YouTube video that Watchguard does each year, where they also grade their previous year predictions:
They also break down each prediction with brief videos like this one:
4) Fortinet
Fortinet moves up again with an excellent report: Cyberthreat Predictions for 2025:An Annual Perspective from FortiGuard Labs.
- More attack chain expertise emerges: In recent years, cyber criminals have been spending more time 'left of boom' on the reconnaissance and weaponization phases of the cyber kill chain. As a result, threat actors can carry out targeted attacks quickly and more precisely. In the past, we’ve observed many CaaS providers serving as jacks of all trades, offering buyers everything needed to execute an attack, from phishing kits to payloads. However, we expect that CaaS groups will increasingly embrace specialization, with many groups focusing on providing offerings that home in on just one segment of the attack chain.
- It’s cloud(y) with a chance of cyber attacks: While targets like edge devices will continue to capture the attention of threat actors, there’s another part of the attack surface that defenders must pay close attention to over the next few years: their cloud environments. Although cloud isn’t new, it’s increasingly piquing the interest of cyber criminals. Given that most organizations rely on multiple cloud providers, it’s not surprising that we’re observing more cloud-specific vulnerabilities being leveraged by attackers, anticipating that this trend will grow in the future.
- Automated hacking tools make their way to the dark web marketplace: A seemingly endless number of attack vectors and associated code are now available through the CaaS market, such as phishing kits, ransomware as a service, DDoS as a service, and more. While we’re already seeing some cyber-crime groups rely on AI to power CaaS offerings, we expect this trend to flourish. We anticipate that attackers will use the automated output from LLMs to power CaaS offerings and grow the market, such as taking social media reconnaissance and automating that intelligence into neatly packaged phishing kits.
- Playbooks grow to include real-life threats: Cyber criminals continually advance their playbooks, with attacks becoming more aggressive and destructive. We predict that adversaries will expand their playbooks to combine cyber attacks with physical, real-life threats. We’re already seeing some cyber-crime groups physically threaten an organization’s executives and employees in some instances, and we anticipate that this will become a regular part of many playbooks. We also anticipate that transnational crime, such as drug trafficking, smuggling people or goods, and more will become a regular component of more sophisticated playbooks, with cyber-crime groups and transnational crime organizations working together.
- Anti-adversary frameworks will expand: As attackers continually evolve their strategies, the cybersecurity community at large can do the same in response. Pursuing global collaborations, creating public-private partnerships, and developing frameworks to combat threats are all vital to enhancing our collective resilience. Many related efforts, like the World Economic Forum Cybercrime Atlas initiative, of which Fortinet is a founding member, are already underway, and we anticipate that more collaborative initiatives will emerge to meaningfully disrupt cyber crime.”
5) Splunk
Splunk rounds out the top five reports with theirs: 2025 Predictions: Driving Digital Resilience Forward.
The top Splunk predictions include:
- Governments will finally define cybersecurity “materiality”
- There will be no digital resilience without vendor resilience
- Student-powered SOCs will bridge public-sector talent gaps
- Geopolitics will reshape data residency regulations
- AI exploration will give way to AI expectations
- The future of large language models (LLMs) will be small
- Observability data will influence product road maps
- Expanding opportunities in the AI era
6) Kaspersky
The next set of reports come from vendors that offer a tremendous amount of valuable security forecast and prediction content that is very hard to find in free formats online. In some cases, this is deliberate since they want you to buy their services. In other cases, the companies have decided to offer materials to certain global audiences and not others. Or, perhaps they just don’t see the value in one combined, easy-to-read annual cybersecurity predictions report.
Regardless, Kaspersky has an abundance of materials on our global cyber battles and what comes next.
- Hacktivist alliances to escalate in 2025
- The IoT to become a growing attack vector for APTs in 2025
- Increasing supply chain attacks on open source projects
- C++ and Go malware to adapt to the open source ecosystem
- Broadening the use of AI in the hands of state-affiliated actors
- Deepfakes will be used by APT groups
- Backdoored AI models
- The rise of BYOVD (bring your own vulnerable driver) exploits in APT campaigns
- Kaspersky predicts advancements in mobile financial cyber threats in 2025
- Kaspersky predicts quantum-proof ransomware and advancements in mobile financial cyberthreats in 2025
- Kaspersky explores 2025 potential IT outage and supply chain risk scenarios
- Kaspersky Predicts Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Privacy to Shape Consumer Cybersecurity Landscape in 2025
- AI becomes an everyday reality
- Privacy regulations will expand user data ownership
- Fraudsters will continue to exploit premieres and releases
- Political polarization will fuel cyber bullying
- Rising number of subscription services will fuel fraud risks
- Prohibition of social media for children may lead to broader user restrictions
7) Gartner
As in previous years, Gartner offers many predictions, forecasts and insights about 2025 cybersecurity trends (and beyond). However, there is no single (free) report, but a long list of resources that are available when searching diligently.
You can start with this excellent YouTube video from Gartner’s IT Symposium/Xpo. The session is entitled "Top Strategic Tech Trends for 2025."
- AI Governance Platforms
- Disinformation Security — need brand protection, deepfake detection, impersonation prevention — need marketing to work with cyber teams
- Post-Quantum Cryptography — bigger than Y2K breaks asymmetric crypto — harvest now, decrypt later — a lot to replace, inventory of encrypted data
- Ambient, Invisible Intelligence — ultra-low-cost wireless tags, devices and sensors. Redefining large-scale tagging, tracking, sensing and intelligence. Tags on everything. How many, where to go next? Heading to smart everything. Retail, food production, warehousing. Ice cream temperature tags, nefarious truck drive trying to save fuel would be caught.
- Energy-Efficient Computing — shifting load times to save energy, optical, neuromorphic and novel accelerators.
“No. 1: Agentic AI — Agentic AI is a software program designed to independently make decisions and take actions to achieve specific goals. Agentic AI is trending because of its ability to take action autonomously to help CIOs realize their vision for generative AI to increase productivity.
“These programs combine various AI techniques with features like memory, planning, sensing the environment, using tools and following safety guidelines to carry out tasks to reach objectives on their own.
“'Organizations have long wanted to promote high-performing teams, improve cross-functional collaboration and coordinate issues across team networks,' Tom Coshow, senior director analyst at Gartner, [said] in the report. 'Agentic AI has the potential to perform as a highly competent teammate by providing insights from derivative events that are often not visible to human teammates.'”
On security spending, Gartner offers this: “Gartner Forecasts Global Information Security Spending to Grow 15% in 2025.”
Also: “Gartner Predicts that by 2027, 17% of Total Cyberattacks Will Involve Generative AI.”
From Gartner in June of this year, we have this cybersecurity presentation, entitled, "The 2024 Outlook for Cyber Risk Management":
- Fifty-eight percent of board directors expect to increase their risk appetite between 2024 and 2025.
- Fifty-eight percent see digital technology initiatives among their top-five business priorities for the next two years.
- Ninety-three percent of project managers feel pressure to speed up delivery.
8) Forrester
Like Gartner, Forrester offers an abundance of free resources intended to encourage subscriptions to their paid services. Some of these go against the grain of other industry predictions, so we are starting to see some disagreements.
Here is a sample of some of those resources for the 2025 cybersecurity space: "Predictions 2025: Security And Risk Pros Will Brace For Regulations And Resilience."
- CISOs will deprioritize GenAI use by 10 percent due to lack of quantifiable value. According to Forrester’s 2024 data, 35 percent of global CISOs and CIOs consider exploring and deploying use cases for GenAI to improve employee productivity as a top priority. The security product market has been quick to hype GenAI’s expected productivity benefits, but a lack of practical outcomes is fostering disillusionment. The thought of an autonomous security operations center using GenAI generated a lot of hype, but it couldn’t be further from reality. In 2025, the trend will continue, and security practitioners will sink deeper into disenchantment as challenges such as inadequate budgets and unrealized AI benefits reduce the number of security-focused GenAI deployments.
- Breach-related class-action costs will surpass regulatory fines by 50 percent.
- A Western government will bar specific third-party or open source software.
- A Run On The Bank: Lack Of Headline Failures Hasn’t Changed Consumer Attitudes
- Predictions 2025: Tech Spending Will Surge, But Can AI Deliver On Its Promises For Insurance In 2025?
- Predictions 2025: Younger Business Buyers And GenAI Will Upend The Status Quo
This Forrester health-care prediction report for 2025 also has some cyber content: “Three more states will pass legislation to fortify hospital cybersecurity requirements. Cybersecurity attacks, such as the one on Change Healthcare, left devastation in their wake. The newly proposed Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act aims to make health-care cybersecurity controls mandatory and enforceable, but the bill has a long legislative road ahead of it, and the industry is unlikely to meet its standards. New York is leading the charge with new cybersecurity program requirements that bolster security controls and mandate more stringent risk assessments and better incident response. The program also extends protections beyond HIPAA to cover hospitals’ confidential business information. We expect states such as Massachusetts and California to follow suit, and Illinois, Texas, Florida, and Washington may not be far behind due to their recently intensified focus on privacy and cybersecurity laws related to health care. HCOs must prepare for three more state-level initiatives that regulate cybersecurity in 2025.”
9) IBM Security
Like several others, there is no single IBM security prediction report that I am aware of for 2025. However, there are many helpful resources and security predictions from IBM.
Start with this piece from Dataquest in India: "Six cyber security predictions from IBM executives for 2025":
- “Shadow AI will prove to be more common — and risky — than we thought.”
- “Cyber security teams will no longer be able to effectively manage threats in isolation.”
- “Data security and AI security will become an essential ingredient of trustworthy AI.“
- “As organizations begin the transition to post-quantum cryptography over the next year, agility will be crucial to ensure systems are prepared for continued transformation, particularly as the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) continues to expand its toolbox of post-quantum cryptography standards. …”
- “… Organizations need to be aware of AI being used as a new tool or conduit for threat actors to breach long-standing security processes and protocols. Businesses need to adopt security frameworks, best-practice recommendations and guardrails for AI and adapt quickly.”
- AI agents are here and now
- The role of "individual contributors" will evolve
- Open source AI will drive business adoption
- Automation becomes a requirement for AI
- The acceleration of purpose-adapted AI will increase the performance and security of the mainframe
- The emergence of shadow AI
- Multimodal AI, especially for processing complex documents, will grow significantly within the company
- Companies will combine AI and automation technologies to achieve sustainability goals for 2030
- Agentic AI will transform your business — but first you must reskill your people.
- Despite efforts to slow its growth, technical debt continues to increase.
- In the age of AI, location is everything.
- The rapid pivot to AI has upended IT budgets, but self-funding is imminent.
- AI product and service innovation is the No. 1 CEO goal, yet business models aren’t keeping up.
- Making smart cybersecurity spending decisions in 2025
- What does resilience in the cyber world look like in 2025 and beyond?
10) Check Point
Check Point came out with this report in late October: 2025 Cyber Security Predictions — The Rise of AI-Driven Attacks, Quantum Threats, and Social Media Exploitation. Here’s a summary:
- Ransomware is poised to become even more sophisticated by 2025, with cyber criminals using AI and automation to increase the speed and precision of their attacks.
- AI-powered attacks will surge
- Rampant AI misuse leading to increased data breaches
- The proliferation of AI-driven SOC “co-pilots” will be a game-changer in how security operations centers (SOCs) function.
- Quantum computing: a looming threat
- Social media as a cyber-crime playground
- The era of an AI-driven CISO
- Increasing evolution of CISO role: convergence with CIO
- Cloud security evolution — Cloud security in 2025 will face growing challenges as AI and cloud platforms become more integrated into business operations.
- The ongoing tug-of-war between best-of-breed and best-of-suite cybersecurity solutions is shifting in favor of platforms.
- Cloud and IoT security challenges — As more organizations migrate to the cloud and adopt Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the attack surface continues to expand. By 2025, over 90 percent of enterprises will operate in multicloud environments, and IoT devices are projected to exceed 32 billion globally.
- AI-generated malware and multi-agent systems
- Cyber criminals poised to exploit the growing cybersecurity talent gap
- Increasing regulatory demands and stricter cyber insurance policies
11) Beyond Trust
Back in October, Beyond Trust released their Top Cybersecurity Trend Predictions for 2025+: BeyondTrust Edition. Within their report, they offer opening comments, top threats, and a look back at the previous year.
Here are their top cybersecurity trends for 2025 (with many details under each item at their website):
- AI2 Bursts its Bubble, Bringing Down the Hype of the AI Threat
- Organizations Grapple with Schrödinger's Quantum Computing Threats
- Planned Obsolescence Forces Electronic Exodus
- Clone Wars: Reverse Identity Theft Begets Digital Doppelgangers
- Dangers of Vulnerable Critical Infrastructure Being Targeted by Nation-State Cyber Warfare Increase
- Moonlighting and AI Assistant Uprising
- Hidden Paths to Privilege™ Become the New Cybersecurity Battleground
- Too Much of a Good Thing? High Cybersecurity Investments Overwhelm Security Practitioners
- Cyber Insurance Requirements Play Catchup
12) SentinelOne
SentinelOne’s report is entitled Cybersecurity 2025 | Preparing for Tomorrow’s Threats, Challenges and Strategic Shifts.
I like their opening “words of wisdom” and look back at the past year. You can read that entire section at their website, but they start with, “Crystal balls are notoriously fragile, and those who look into them are wise not to become fixated with the shadows cast by their refracted light, yet no business can function without some meaningful sense of what the future might hold. Reading the tea leaves of the past can offer no insight into novel and unexpected events to come, but it can help us prepare for that which is already forming in the shadows. Ultimately, the entire point of intelligence is to enable forward-looking decisions, and this means we’ll hit the mark with some and miss with others.”
Here are their predictions:
- AI Will Take the Blame for Everything | Sometimes It May Be True
- Increased Targeting of Poorly Monitored and Understood Technologies
- Actors Targeting the Cloud Will Shift Focus to Hacking and Monetizing AI Services
- Macs Could Be Organizations’ Achilles Heel in 2025
- Normalization and Targeting of Encrypted Communication Services
- Ransomware Is Not Dying | Neither Is Your Data
- A Dangerous New Era for Ransomware Operators
13) Fortra’s 2025 Cybersecurity Predictions
The IT Nerd offers a different type of report: "The Fortra Team Share Their 2025 Predictions." This was my biggest surprise quality-wise from a new player for the 2025 predictions. Very well done from Forta (and welcome to the top tier!).
Their YouTube video caught my eye and is very well done:
- Scams will become increasingly personalized.
- We’ll see increased use of cross-channel social engineering attacks. For example, we started seeing hybrid vishing in 2023, where the attack starts out with an email instructing the victim to call a phone number. Quishing, or phishing using QR codes, is a way to cross from an email to a URL opened on a mobile device.
- Our geopolitical rivals will continue to leverage social media to deepen divides within NATO and within the USA.
- In 2025 we will see a terrorist group use a cyber attack to target self-driving cars.
- Swatting and doxing are so last year. In the near future we’ll see hackers plant CSAM on their victim’s phone or laptop before tipping off the police.
- Criminal street gangs will infiltrate Flock Safety in order to prevent their license plate readers from detecting the gang’s activities.
14) Akamai
Akamai offers a great piece called The Year in Review 2024: Today’s Insights, Tomorrow’s Outlook.
Each person interviewed offered a look back and a look forward. Here are some of their predictions:
- "We can expect nation-state activity to expand further through proxies."
- "As we move further into the future, we’ll need to focus on the impact of quantum computing. This technology will potentially accelerate attacks in dramatic ways the industry is not yet prepared for."
- "Organizations that pay ransoms are likely to be targeted again."
- "Expect an increase in attacks on Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which often lack robust security."
- "With two regional wars still raging, I don’t believe the hacktivism threat will diminish any time soon."
- "In 2025, I think we will see more focus on being cryptographically agile. Organizations are starting to get their heads around what they need to be 'quantum safe.'"
15) Proofpoint
To wrap up the top 15 cyber industry reports, Proofpoint offers AI, Data Security, and CISO Shifts: Top Cybersecurity Trends to Watch in 2025.
“Looking ahead to 2025, the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve at a breakneck pace as threat actors continue to perfect their craft.”
Here’s what coming next in 2025, according to Proofpoint:
- Threat Actors Will Exploit AI by Manipulating Private Data
- 2025: The Age of "Decision-Making Machines” Through AI
- Under Scrutiny, AI Will Become an Essential Part of How We Do Business
- The New Battlefield: Geopolitics Will Shape Cyber Espionage and the Rise of Regional Cyber Powers
- Consumers Will Be Testing Ground for Scamming Operations
- The "How" of the Threat Actor Landscape Is Evolving Faster Than the "What"
- Smishing Goes Visual: MMS-Based Cyber Attacks Will Flourish in 2025
- The Role of CISO Will Morph
- More Consolidated Platforms, Fewer Shiny Point Solutions
Next week I’ll release the second part of this report, “The Top 25 Security Predictions for 2025 (Part 2),” including:
- Reports 16 to 25
- Five bonus reports worth a second look
- Honorable mention reports and prediction lists
- Awards for the best reports and predictions in various categories
- My final thoughts on what may be missing from these 2025 security predictions
