By Curtis Simpson, CISO & Chief Advocacy Officer, Armis

As the end of year approaches, we all begin to strategically forecast what is to come, what our goals for the year will be, and what obstacles we may need to deter.

Below are several themes I believe will occupy the cybersecurity space for security and IT leaders in 2025, which I hope will help teams prioritize their efforts when tackling the ever-changing cyber threat landscape.

Proactive Defense Against Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)

APTs will continue to grow in sophistication and state-sponsored motive, making early-stage detection and disruption crucial. In 2025, we'll see a growing investment in technology to identify lateral movement and prevent attackers from gaining a foothold, a common tactic used by APTs to spread throughout an organization. By detecting and disrupting lateral movement, CISOs can prevent attackers from establishing a foothold and minimizing the potential damage caused by a breach. Additionally, implementing robust security measures such as network segmentation will be essential to thwarting APT attacks and protecting critical infrastructure.

The Allure of AI: Separating Fact from Fiction

AI has the potential to revolutionize cybersecurity, but it's essential to understand its capabilities and limitations. A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research revealed that more than 50% of companies with more than 5,000 employees were using AI in some form. With this new adoption, there's an inherent risk of over-reliance on AI, which has led to false positives or missed threats. While 2024 saw a boom in general AI adoption, we'll gain further perspective on likely scenarios where AI experimentation has high potential to go right, and better understand where it can go wrong or provide limited real world operational value.

Shifting Focus from Prevention to Cyber Resilience

As CISOs recognize the inevitability of cyber breaches, they will increasingly prioritize resilience over prevention. This shift in mindset will involve implementing strategies that enable rapid detection, containment, and recovery from attacks. By focusing on resilience, organizations can minimize the disruption to their operations and protect their critical assets. This includes developing robust incident response plans and fostering a culture of security awareness among employees. Additionally, CISOs will need to establish strong partnerships with external stakeholders, such as law enforcement, to facilitate effective incident response and recovery efforts.

Increased Demand for Comprehensive Asset Visibility

The escalating complexity of environments across IT, OT, IoT, IoMT, and cloud has ignited a pressing need for comprehensive and contextual asset visibility. As organizations grapple with the proliferation of connected devices, networks, and applications, the ability to accurately identify, track, and understand their assets will become even more critical in 2025. This demand is driven by a multitude of factors that include increased security risks, compliance mandates, operational efficiency, and cost optimization.

Automated Threat Detection and Response Become a Requirement

The increased volume of cyber threats is fueled by the adoption of AI and the growing attack surface. As these interconnected systems become more prevalent, they will present new attack vectors for malicious actors. We can expect to see a rise in sophisticated AI-powered attacks that further shorten the timeline from when a vulnerability is disclosed to active exploitation.

To effectively combat the escalating cyber threats of 2025, CISOs will need to leverage the power of AI and machine learning-driven solutions. These technologies can analyze vast amounts of data in real-time, enabling rapid detection of emerging threats and anomalies. By automating threat detection, prioritization and response processes, IT and security leaders can reduce the mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR) to effectively contain incidents and minimize their impact to the business. By streamlining security operations, security teams will focus on continuous improvement and shift towards proactive security.

Proactive Monitoring of Third Parties and Supply Chain Risk Management

As global supply chains become more interconnected, the risk of cyberattacks targeting third-party vendors and partners also increases. CISOs are increasingly recognizing the critical importance of proactively managing these risks to protect their organizations from potential breaches and disruptions.

With increasing cyberattacks on supply chains, CISOs will emphasize continuous monitoring of third-party vendors and partners. This involves regularly assessing their cybersecurity practices, identifying potential vulnerabilities, and ensuring that they comply with the organization's own security standards. Their ecosystems being secure through continuous monitoring ensures their supply chains do not become an entry point for cybercriminals.

Next-Gen Quantum Preparation Will Finally Begin

With the next-gen quantum readiness timeline becoming increasingly fuzzy and being potentially closer than we like to think, this will be the year that enterprises begin formally testing the implementation of quantum-ready encryption in the cloud.

In parallel, the inability to deploy quantum-ready encryption against legacy areas of enterprise environments will begin to be used as additional justification criteria to accelerate the decommissioning of legacy assets, post-transformation.

With Y2K, there was a deadline. When it comes to adversaries unlocking next-gen quantum capabilities with the potential for destruction, there is no deadline and it's no longer being considered too soon to make progress.

Addressing the Cybersecurity Talent Shortage with Managed Security Service Providers

Hiring cybersecurity talent continues to be a challenge driven by several factors such as rapid advancements in technology struggling to keep pace with demand, increased complexity of threats, and uneven geographic distribution of talent across the globe.

As organizations struggle to find and retain qualified security talent, they will increasingly turn to managed security services and automation tools to bridge the talent gap. Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) can offer specialized expertise and round-the-clock monitoring, allowing CISOs to augment their internal security teams and address critical security needs. Additionally, automation tools can streamline routine tasks, freeing up security professionals to focus on more strategic initiatives. By investing in managed security services and automation, CISOs can ensure robust security operations while mitigating the impact of the talent shortage.

Growing Pressure to Proactively Demonstrate Compliance

Regulatory environments will continue to tighten globally and CISOs will need to ensure their organizations meet evolving compliance requirements across industries (GDPR, CCPA, NERC CIP, etc.). In 2024 alone, we saw several high-profile fines across major healthcare providers, financial institutions, and retailers after cyberattacks compromised the personal data of their customers. The penalties can be severe, both financially and reputationally, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing compliance. Adopting platforms that provide automated compliance tracking and reporting will be essential.

Altogether, 2025 will underscore that corporate boards will have increased responsibility for cybersecurity through an expanding threat landscape, critical cybersecurity talent shortage, and increased regulatory pressure. As security and IT professionals prepare for the year ahead, it is crucial to prioritize the ability to see, protect, and manage the entire attack surface. Safeguarding mission-critical assets from cyber threats remains paramount.

While this may seem like a daunting task, partnering with the right cybersecurity solution provider can make this resolution not only achievable but a reality.

##

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Curtis Simpson, Armis CISO and Chief Advocacy Officer

As CISO and Chief Advocacy Officer, Curtis guides and advances the Armis enterprise vision, ensures the protection of the company’s information assets, and serves as a vital resource to his counterparts at Armis customers and throughout the technology sector.
 
Curtis brings more than 15 years of diversified information technology experience, with direct information security and management experience in positions of increasing responsibility at Sysco, a Fortune 50 corporation. As vice president and global CISO at Sysco, Curtis directed a portfolio of cost effective, business-focused security programs responsible for reducing security risks faced by a global organization. Curtis is an award winner of the Cyber Influencer Top 10 list by Enterprise Security Tech.