Over the years, the complexity of cybersecurity and complicated risks increase. Although several risk trends and cybersecurity priorities persist every year, it is expected that over the next year new points will be considered that impact the virtual ecosystem.
I have chosen to select a few technological trends that will indeed impact cybersecurity in 2025: synthetic intelligence and quantum computing. I’m also addressing a pervasive and persistent cyber threat: phishing. And to offer practical recommendations, we’ve included a short list of cybersecurity preparedness and recommendations for businesses for the coming year.
The application of artificial intelligence is a vital driver of cybersecurity. This was the cybersecurity theme for 2024 and will get bigger until 2025. Artificial intelligence (AI) and device learning (ML) are becoming must-have equipment or next-generation chess pieces in a strategy game of cybersecurity when adapting to a new and very complicated virtual environment. Survival and prosperity will depend on the accuracy, speed and quality of the algorithms and the generation behind them. To succeed in a complex game, we will have to be diligent, artistic and one step ahead of the competition.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning have the potential to become new paradigms for automation in the field of cybersecurity. The ability to draw statistical conclusions and use predictive analytics to reduce hazards with fewer resources is made possible by them.
Speech recognition, learning, planning, and problem-solving are some of the basic responsibilities that computers equipped with synthetic intelligence and device learning are expected to perform.
In the area of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and machine learning can offer a more expedient method of recognizing new assaults, drawing statistical inferences, and transmitting this information to endpoint security systems. This is of utmost significance because there is a significant lack of well-trained cybersecurity professionals, and the attack surface is increasingly expanding.
AI and ML can be useful for cyber defense. The equipment can be used for cyber defense functions and temporarily detect risk-related anomalies. On the other hand, malicious actors can also use these computers. And criminal hackers and adversaries are already employing AI and IM as tools to identify and exploit flaws in risk frameworks. By using automated reconnaissance techniques, attackers can collect detailed data about a target’s personnel, systems, and defenses at a speed and scale never before possible.
To achieve this, they employ a number of techniques. Their favorite strategies are automated phishing attempts and malware that can be modified to trick or even compromise cyber defense systems and systems.
The most vulnerable targets are small businesses, organizations, and particularly healthcare facilities that cannot afford to make large expenditures in defensive developing cybersecurity technology like artificial intelligence. Hacker extortion via ransomware and cryptocurrency demands could become a more persistent and dynamic danger.
Digital layer dimension process and analysis set with holographic quantum computer core technology. [] to gain great knowledge and an orange polygon summary background
The era of quantum computing is lately open to humanity. Quantum computing promises to solve disorders by enabling unprecedented processing speeds and predictive analytics. Real-time analytics and cybersecurity are just two of the spaces that quantum generation is expected to revolutionize. It does so through unique subatomic waste homes to process knowledge contributions.
Research firm Gartner succinctly describes quantum computing as: “The use of atomic quantum states to perform calculations. Data is stored in qubits (quantum bits), which can contain every conceivable state simultaneously. Data in qubits is seen affected through cognition into other qubits, even when they are physically separated. This effect is known as entanglement. In a simplified description, quantum computers use quantum bits or qubits instead. of using the classic binary bits of ones and zeros for virtual communications.
Robert Liscouski, chairman of the board of Quantum Computing Inc. (www. quantumcomputinginc. com), believes we will see practical quantum computing programs this year and in the future. He believes the generation state is at a point where end users (commercial users, medical researchers, and cybersecurity professionals) will replace the verbal replacement of “What can quantum computing do?” for “Look what I can achieve with quantum computing. ” Training”
However, as is the case with many technological tools, there are two sides. Given their speed and accuracy advantages over classical computers, quantum computers have the potential to pose geopolitical cyberthreats if misused. Cybersecurity can potentially be compromised by the same computational capacity that enables the solution of complex issues. Current cybersecurity measures typically use pseudo-random numbers to encrypt sensitive data, such as passwords and personal information. However, any business that uses regular encryption tools faces a major risk. This is because quantum computers can defeat the encryption methods that traditional computers employ.
Quantum computing is arriving faster than expected and we will need to prepare for the exponential benefits and threats of quantum generation due to its potentially disruptive nature. Governments, universities and many industry generation leaders are now investing more intensively in studies and progression and contributing to the quest to expand functional quantum computing. The year 2025 will once again be an era of quantum discoveries. However, it is undeniable that a new quantum era is on the horizon.
Cybersecurity Ransomware Email Phishing Encrypted technology, secure digital information protected
Confronting persistent annual cyber threats
Every year, phishing tops the list of cyber threats. So that? Because it’s easy to do and hackers can take advantage of it.
Social networks are used by teams of hackers and scammers to plan their malware and phishing attacks. They may not publicize their attacks by collecting extensive data from social media posts, adding dates of birth and private stories. Technological advances have made phishing more available to cybercriminals. They have easy access to virtual photos and social engineering data, as well as a wide variety of phishing tools, some of which are automated through device learning. Hackers sometimes mix phishing, a strategy they use to attack business or organization leaders, with ransomware.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms have made social engineering operations much more complex by making it easier to find weaknesses and automate large-scale ransomware and phishing campaigns. When hackers are successful in stealing identities, they frequently sell or distribute them to other criminals on the dark web.
The second half of 2024 saw a 202% increase in total phishing messages, according to cybersecurity experts, who also noted a sharp rise in phishing attacks. In the same period, there was a significant 703% increase in credential phishing attacks, according to SlashNext’s 2024 Phishing Intelligence Report. “Key findings from the study reveal that users encounter an average of one advanced phishing attack per mailbox every week. Mobile users face up to 600 threats annually, underscoring a shift away from email-only phishing to multichannel approaches.” Phishing Attacks Double in 2024 – Infosecurity Magazine
Ransomware attacks occasionally accompany phishing attacks. Automated and AI-enabled criminal hackers will continue to extort their victims at a staggering rate in 2025. Soft targets for ransomware extortion are not unusual among hackers, specifically in manufacturing, finance, and healthcare. . Given that many networks still have open vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit and many affected corporations continue to pay for ransomware, we deserve to expect more attacks of this nature.
So, what should be the priorities for 2025?! Below is a short checklist that highlights both needs and challenges and some practical business recommendations:
A virtual with a check mark on a dark background filled with binary code. Matrix concept. . . [] Cybersecurity, knowledge coverage and virtual security. 3D rendering
· Stronger encryption (quantum resistant) for knowledge in motion and at rest.
· Identity-based cybersecurity with biometrics to mitigate AI-enabled forgeries and forgeries.
· Better automated risk detection (AI) functions, accompanied by greater risk intelligence sharing between the public and private sectors.
· Enhanced vulnerability scanning including behavioral analysis and contextual behavioral analysis to manage security alerts (and discover insider threats).
· Policies & tools to mitigate risk to supply chains (especially via 3rd party vendors).
· Optimization of migration to Cloud platforms with secure internet gateways and firewalls for internet networks and applications.
· Upgrading existing systems and assimilating emerging technologies such as 5G, synthetic intelligence and quantum-resistant algorithms into security platforms will have to be a priority.
· Better visibility and monitoring of connected devices on the Internet of Things.
· Increased focus on Zero Trust threat control strategies, from vulnerability testing to securing code from production to lifecycle.
· New methods and use of technologies to close vulnerabilities and monitor sensors between OT and IT operating systems (especially critical infrastructure with business systems).
*Please see my new book, “Inside Cyber: How AI, 5G, and Quantum Computing Will Transform Privacy and Our Security.” The book teaches readers how to navigate the arriving intersection of tech, cybersecurity, and commerce. Amazon.com: Inside Cyber: How AI, 5G, IoT, and Quantum Computing Will Transform Privacy and Our Security: 9781394254941: Brooks, Chuck: Books
Business, technology, web and netrunning concept. Man running on his PC and server, Array. . [ ] The cyber security icon in the virtual demo diagram.
Cybersecurity recommendations for companies in 2025
1) The concept of cybersecurity fundamentally has to do with threat management. Employee training, vulnerability analysis, vulnerability assessment, threat mitigation, and availability of updated resilience plans to respond to incidents are all components of this vigilant approach.
2) Cyber hygiene is also a business imperative. The basics of cyber hygiene come with multi-factor authentication (MFA) to restrict the option of unauthorized and secure passwords that are not easy to guess and/or a password manager. Identity and Assurance (“IAM”) ensures that only the appropriate other people and roles within your organization can have the equipment they want to do their jobs.
3) The foundation of cybersecurity is effective communication. The CISO, CTO, CIO, and top management must coordinate their efforts, work together, and evaluate their information security policies, procedures, and network security on a regular basis. By exchanging intelligence about dangers and innovative security advances, communication makes preparedness possible.
4) Expertise is needed in cybersecurity. A corporate board should ideally have a mix of subject matter specialists from inside and outside the company. Executive management can always benefit from hearing opinions and suggestions from outside specialists.
We wish you all a happy holiday season and a 2025 in Cybersecurity!
One community. Many voices. Create a loose account to divide your thoughts.
Our network aims to connect other people through open and thoughtful conversations. We need our readers to share their perspectives and exchange ideas and facts in one space.
To do so, please comply with the posting regulations in our site’s terms of use. We summarize some of those key regulations below. In short, civilians.
Your message will be rejected if we realize that it seems to contain:
User accounts will be locked if we become aware that users are engaging in:
So how can you be a user?
Thank you for reading our Community Guidelines. Please read the full list of posting regulations discovered in our site’s Terms of Use.