As we mark Safer Internet Day on February 11, 2025, the digital landscape continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. This global initiative, which began in the European Union over two decades ago, has become increasingly relevant in today's hyperconnected world where artificial intelligence, immersive technologies, and digital spaces are reshaping how we live, work, and interact online.

This year's theme, "Together for a better internet," takes on new significance as we navigate emerging challenges in digital citizenship and online safety. From the rapid advancement of AI-powered tools to the growing sophistication of cyber threats, the need for collective action and shared responsibility in creating a secure digital environment has never been more critical.

The intersection of artificial intelligence and internet safety has emerged as a central focus for 2025, alongside renewed emphasis on digital wellness and cyber resilience. As organizations and individuals alike grapple with these evolving challenges, the importance of fostering a safer, more inclusive online world remains paramount.

VMblog has gathered insights from leading cybersecurity experts and technology innovators to explore how we can work together to build a more secure and trustworthy internet ecosystem.

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Anthony Cusimano, Solutions Director at Object First
 
Safer Internet Day is a reminder that the same cybersecurity principles that protect businesses should apply to our personal use — and vice versa. A single compromised password, an unprotected backup, or a phishing attack on a personal device can lead to a large-scale breach of an organization. Cybercriminals don't care whether you're a home user or a business — they're just after the weakest entry point.
 
Zero Trust is no longer just a corporate security strategy – it’s a mindset everyone needs. Every login, every access request, and every piece of data shared should be verified. Multi-factor authentication, regular software updates, and least privilege access are security tools and policies that have become best practices for protecting personal accounts from being used as gateways to larger networks.
 
Backup security is a key area where personal habits can create the same risks businesses face. People often think their data is safe just because it's backed up on an external drive or in the cloud — but if that backup can be altered, encrypted, or deleted, it's still vulnerable. Ransomware attackers increasingly target backup data, knowing that corrupting it will force victims to pay the ransom. Immutability protects backup data from unauthorized changes or deletions and ensures recoverability, making it essential for both businesses and individuals. While companies adopt immutable storage to improve security, meet regulatory standards, and build trust with stakeholders, individuals should apply the same approach to their personal data by choosing secure, tamper-proof backups.
 
A safer internet starts with a Zero Trust approach at all levels — ensuring that security is based on verification and resilience rather than trust.

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Darren Guccione, CEO and Co-founder at Keeper Security

As cyber threats become more frequent and sophisticated, proactive security measures are essential to staying ahead of attackers. Safer Internet Day is a crucial reminder for organizations to implement a layered security strategy that includes Privileged Access Management (PAM), advanced threat detection and flexible, secure authentication methods.

According to recent research, 80% of organizations are already using or planning to adopt passkeys - reflecting a growing shift toward passwordless authentication. Passkeys and other passwordless solutions enhance security by reducing reliance on traditional passwords, which remain prime targets for phishing and credential-based attacks. In fact, 67% of IT leaders report that their companies struggle to combat phishing, highlighting the need for stronger authentication measures. As passkey adoption accelerates, organizations must deploy PAM solutions capable of securing all credentials - whether passwords, passkeys or secrets - within a zero-trust and zero-knowledge framework. 

This Safer Internet Day, prioritize security and usability by integrating modern authentication solutions while maintaining strong password hygiene. A layered approach remains the key to protecting sensitive data and identities. 

Heath Renfrow, Chief Information Security Officer and Co-founder at Fenix24

Safer Internet Day serves as a powerful reminder that cybersecurity is not just a technical concern-it is a business imperative. In an era where digital connectivity underpins every aspect of operations, the internet has become both a vital asset and a prime attack vector for cyber threats. Organizations that fail to implement robust security measures risk data breaches, financial loss, operational disruption, and reputational damage.

Every login credential, software download, and email interaction present a potential entry point for threat actors. Cybersecurity, therefore, extends far beyond firewalls and encryption; it demands a culture of awareness, vigilance, and proactive risk mitigation. A well-informed workforce is as critical as the technologies deployed to safeguard digital environments.

To foster a safer internet and fortify cyber resilience, organizations must:

• Enforce stringent access controls - Implement multifactor authentication and least-privilege access to minimize unauthorized entry points.
• Cultivate a cyber-aware workforce - Conduct ongoing cybersecurity training to help employees recognize and neutralize phishing scams, social engineering tactics, and emerging cyber threats.
• Proactively address vulnerabilities - Regularly update and patch systems to eliminate security gaps before they can be exploited.
• Develop and stress-test cyber recovery plans - Establish incident response protocols that ensure swift containment, mitigation, and restoration in the event of an attack.
  

Cyber threats are constantly evolving, and organizations must adopt a security-first mindset to stay ahead. Safer Internet Day is not just an annual observance-it is a call to action for businesses to embed cybersecurity into their DNA, ensuring long-term resilience and trust in the digital ecosystem.

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Devin Ertel, CISO at Menlo Security

Safer Internet Day highlights the critical importance of online safety. While the internet is essential, it also exposes users to numerous threats. Attackers can easily "touch" users online, often through phishing emails or malicious websites, making users a prime target. Therefore, a multi-layered security approach is essential. This includes comprehensive user education on cybersecurity best practices, cultivating a security-conscious environment where reporting suspicious activity is encouraged, and implementing a robust browser security solution.

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Thomas Richards, Principal Consultant - Network Security and Red Team Practice Director at Black Duck 

Scammers and malicious actors will continue to find creative and deceptive ways to achieve their goals.  We're already seeing AI's impact by malicious actors utilizing it to craft new software and convincing social engineering ruses. Governments can use their regulatory power for enabling the internet industry to find ways to combat and prevent these attacks.  There will always be the cat and mouse game with cybercriminals, but larger internet providers should be putting a strong effort into making sure their users are safe.  Wide-reaching campaigns usually have a signature or style that can be identified and stopped before damage can be done.  Practicing good digital hygiene continues to be the best way to prevent your account from being compromised: keep your software up to date, use long and complex passwords, and enable MFA whenever you can.

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Stephen Kowski, Field CTO at SlashNext Email+ Security

As we approach Safer Internet Day, it's crucial to highlight how AI-powered attacks in 2025 have made phishing more sophisticated and personal, with attackers now crafting highly convincing messages across email, chat, and collaboration tools that can bypass traditional security measures. Social engineering attacks have evolved beyond simple email scams, including deepfake voice calls and video manipulation that can fool even careful users into sharing sensitive information or transferring funds. To stay safe, people should be extra careful when receiving unexpected communications through any channel - whether it's a Teams message, a voice call, or an email - and always verify requests through a separate, trusted channel, especially for financial transactions or sharing sensitive data. Modern security tools that can detect and block AI-generated content, alongside strong authentication methods like FIDO2, are becoming essential for protecting against these sophisticated cross-channel threats.

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Eric Schwake, Director of Cyber Security Strategy at Salt Security

Safer Internet Day is a vital reminder of cybersecurity's critical role in our increasingly interconnected world. As organizations and individuals increasingly depend on digital services and applications, the attack surface grows, underscoring the necessity for robust security measures. This requires a holistic approach to cybersecurity that includes traditional security practices and a thorough understanding of the changing threat landscape and the integration of advanced technologies to manage risk.

Establishing a strong cybersecurity framework involves a multi-faceted strategy centered on API security. This starts with thorough API discovery, which provides full visibility into all APIs within an organization's complete environment. Such visibility is essential for comprehending the potential attack surface and spotting vulnerabilities. Following this, organizations must enforce strong API governance, ensuring uniform security configurations, effective authentication and authorization strategies, and compliance with industry standards. Lastly, adopting advanced AI-powered behavioral threat protection is crucial for detecting and hindering malicious activities aimed at APIs. This process includes scrutinizing API traffic patterns to identify irregularities and reveal concealed threats that might elude traditional security measures. By merging these components-discovery, governance, and behavioral threat protection-organizations can meaningfully enhance their cybersecurity posture and foster a safer internet for all.

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Bob Palmer, Director of Product Marketing at ColorTokens

Safer Internet Day is an important initiative that helps inform the public how to use online resources safely and responsibly. It also guides government and business leaders in shaping a more secure internet. This initiative is crucial as the threat from malicious actors continues to grow, putting internet users at risk.

These attacks have adverse effects on users' personal lives, and they can also impact the integrity of organizations or businesses where the users reside. Organizations should strive to become cyber-resilient, so they can continue to operate even if an attacker breaches their network by any means, including by manipulating or deceiving a user. By utilizing innovative security technology to mitigate these risks, organizations can operate with confidence that they are prepared for the inevitable.

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Krishna Vishnubhotla, VP of Mobile Application Security Strategy at Zimperium

Passwords alone won't protect your enterprise if attackers compromise or control your employee's mobile device. Strong authentication and backend security are critical, but client-side attacks-like malware, fake devices, rogue networks, and phishing attacks-can bypass even the strongest passwords and undermine server-side defenses.

Attackers don't need to crack credentials if they can steal them directly from a compromised device or manipulate sessions to gain unauthorized access. This Password Day, go beyond passwords-enforce mobile threat protection, zero-trust policies, and real-time device risk assessments to ensure that compromised mobile endpoints don't become a backdoor into your enterprise. Because if they own the device, they own the data.

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Ratan Tipirneni, President and CEO at Tigera

Today, organizations across nearly every industry and vertical rely on containerized applications and container orchestrators to run their business or deliver their products or services. As a result, the security of these applications and orchestrators has become increasingly critical. Safer Internet Day is a timely reminder to prioritize cybersecurity best practices in order to stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape. For example, as organizations scale their Kubernetes environments, it’s critical to adopt processes and tools that offer the security, flexibility, and efficiency needed to meet the demands of modern application architectures. 

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