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Cyware 2025 Predictions: Threat Intelligence Management Will Be Table Stakes in Countering Emerging Challenges

vmblog-predictions-2025 

Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2025.  Read them in this 17th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.

By Jawahar Sivasankaran, President, Cyware

New tools, techniques, and technologies are transforming the way cyber attackers attack and defenders defend, and new threats are emerging that will afflict organizations throughout 2025 and the years ahead.  

The new year signals that it's time to consider some of these threats and strategies that will help protect against them.

2025 Cybersecurity Predictions

We'll likely see the following in 2025.

Proliferation of AI-Driven Cyber Attacks

AI-driven cyber-attacks are set to escalate, transforming the scale and sophistication of malicious activities. Phishing campaigns powered by generative AI will create flawless, personalized emails that adapt in real-time to bypass security measures. Adaptive malware, enhanced by AI, will learn and evolve, making detection increasingly difficult.

Generative AI enables even small cybercriminal groups lacking advanced technical skills to launch  large-scale, highly targeted attacks. Automating processes, threat actors can tap into cybersecurity tools and technologies, democratizing cybercrime and expanding its reach.

AI's cybersecurity risks extend well beyond direct attacks as AI embeds deeper into daily life. We've already seen how employees inadvertently sharing sensitive data with AI platforms like ChatGPT place organizations and their data in peril. In response, organizations must adopt robust controls to balance AI's benefits with privacy concerns, ensuring data protection against accidental exposure while staying vigilant against evolving AI-powered threats.

Further Sophistication of Social Engineering Attacks and Exploitation of Social Media

Cybercriminals will increasingly exploit the convergence of social media and generative AI to conduct advanced social engineering attacks. Platforms like LinkedIn, where users expect legitimate professional connections, will continue to be fertile ground for impersonation, and AI-powered tools will craft convincing personas, enabling attackers to pose as employees, executives, or trusted partners, breaching corporate defenses with new ease.

Deepfakes and AI bots will amplify these threats by mimicking voices, appearances, and behaviors in real-time, blurring the lines between genuine interactions and forgery. Imagine participating in a video conference call, only to realize later it was an AI-generated deception. These technologies will disrupt not just individual users but also financial transactions, corporate decision-making, and brand reputations. This is yet another reason why organizations must evolve their security measures, integrating advanced tools and adopting zero-trust principles. Employee training will also be critical to navigating this new environment where every interaction demands scrutiny and skepticism.

Supply Chain Attacks Will Further Escalate

Security attacks targeting supply chains will reach dangerous new levels of sophistication, as AI and automation allow rapid, targeted attacks and the rapid spread of ransomware across interconnected networks, all of which will make early detection and mitigation profoundly  critical. Large-scale supply chain cyber incidents can be expected to disrupt industries globally.

The reliance on critical vendors magnifies the cascading effects of such attacks, pushing businesses to enroll cyber insurance and governments to enforce stricter regulatory standards. Organizations must prioritize compliance, enhance phishing defenses, and train employees to counter increasingly convincing AI-driven impersonations and attacks.

Regulatory Changes Will Impact Cybersecurity Practices

The regulatory landscape must by necessity become increasingly stringent, with frameworks like NIS2 demanding a greater focus on cybersecurity. This means organizations will be forced to direct more time, resources, and money toward their cybersecurity strategies. While these regulations are intended to strengthen security postures, they also add layers of operational complexity, forcing businesses to dedicate more focus and effort to meeting these standards.

Effective Threat Intelligence and Collective Defense Are Essential in 2025

Effective threat intelligence and collective defense are vital in 2025 to address the evolving cyber threats. Sharing actionable insights enhances resilience, enabling organizations to anticipate and mitigate risks before they evolve into impactful incidents. A collaborative approach strengthens defenses across interconnected ecosystems, ensuring compliance and safeguarding businesses against increasingly sophisticated adversaries. 

Adopting a Deeper View of the Risk Environment

Ensuring security in 2025 relies on understanding risks beyond corporate borders, including those impacting your supply chain and third-party partners. Tools like Cyware's Collaborate (CSAP) - which includes vulnerability advisory sharing, threat assessment surveys, action assignment, and security collaboration capabilities - can provide a panoramic view of the risk environment as well as a deeper intelligence perspective to protect against third-party risks. 

Threat Intelligence Will Be a Cornerstone of Proactive Defense

As threats evolve and attackers grow more sophisticated, timely and actionable cyber threat intelligence will play an increasingly important role in protecting organizations. This intelligence is crucial for anticipating and mitigating threats to your business, helping you establish a deep understanding of individual threat actor profiles and the broader cybersecurity threat landscape.

Building Resilience Through Collective Defense

While competing organizations are often reluctant to work with each other, when it comes to cybersecurity, we really are stronger together. Taking part in collective defense efforts - such as by joining sector-specific Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) and operational collaboration frameworks that leverage public-private partnerships - grants you greater visibility into the threats your business faces, allowing for more efficient and effective threat intelligence management and response. 

Ensuring Compliance with Regulations like NIS2

Regulations like the NIS2 Directive and DORA explicitly mandate that organizations operating in critical sectors of the EU share threat intelligence and collaborate on security measures. While meeting these requirements will require time, resources, and finances, it's important not to view these regulations as an operational obstacle. These requirements exist to ensure cybersecurity resiliency. Non-compliance can be damaging, but the consequences of a successful attack are often far worse. 

Looking Ahead

2025 is set to be a particularly tough year for cybersecurity, with supply chain attacks escalating, AI supercharging attack techniques, and bolstered regulations burdening compliance teams - but these challenges are not insurmountable.

By implementing threat intelligence management and collective defense strategies, organizations of all shapes and sizes can take the fight to threat actors and prepare themselves for the year ahead. Seek to gain a holistic approach to cybersecurity that integrates threat intelligence, security orchestration, and automation. This approach connects data across your organization, automates incident response, and enables real-time collaboration and response to threats before they cause any damage.

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Jawajar-Sivasankaran 

Published Friday, January 31, 2025 7:35 AM by David Marshall
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