As cyber threats continue to evolve, 2025 is set to challenge organizations with AI-driven attacks, targeted VPN vulnerabilities, and increasingly sophisticated hacking techniques. Lawrence Pingree, VP at Dispersive, emphasizes the urgent need for proactive cybersecurity strategies, including Zero Trust adoption and robust user education: Increased Sophistication: Hackers will likely continue to refine their techniques, leveraging advanced tools and strategies to exploit vulnerabilities and bypass security measures. This includes utilizing AI and machine learning to automate attacks and make them more effective.
Targeting VPNs: VPNs will remain a prime target, as they provide access to sensitive data and systems. Expect to see more attacks aimed at exploiting VPN vulnerabilities and compromising user credentials. It’s more important than ever to educate users about phishing threats: phishing remains the primary cause of data breaches (80-95%).
Lateral Movement: Once inside a network, hackers will focus on lateral movement, seeking to gain access to additional systems and data. This could involve techniques such as privilege escalation and credential theft. Meaning that Zero Trust network access and technologies like dispersive become required to address the latest threats.
Data Exfiltration: The ultimate goal of many attacks will be to exfiltrate sensitive data, such as customer information, financial records, and intellectual property. Hackers may employ various methods to steal data, including malware, phishing, and social engineering.
Disruption of Operations: In addition to data theft, hackers may also aim to disrupt business operations, causing downtime and financial losses. This could involve launching denial-of-service attacks or deploying ransomware to cripple critical systems.
Evolving Tactics: Hackers will constantly adapt their tactics to stay ahead of security defenses. This means that organizations must remain vigilant and proactive in their security efforts.
Here are some additional events & insights from 2024 that demonstrate what needs to happen in 2025:
The Check Point Quantum Gateway vulnerability (CVE-2024-24919) highlights the importance of patching vulnerabilities but also upgrading to VPN technologies that eliminate the attack surfaces exposed promptly.
The rise of AI and machine learning in cyberattacks poses a significant challenge for security professionals, expected to continue in 2025, but be increasingly multi-dimensional powered by AI.
Organizations need to adopt a multi-layered approach to security, combining technology with strong policies and employee education, focus on Preemptive cyber defense technologies, instead of being so reliant on detection and response.
So, what to do? Lawrence notes that 2025’s threat landscape will likely be even more challenging than in previous years. Prioritizing cybersecurity and investing in robust defenses is the only way to protect their data and systems. He recommends the following:
1. Prioritize VPN security: 56% of organizations experience VPN-related cyberattacks and 91% share concerns about VPN security. Implementing robust next-generation VPN security measures is imperative.
2. Adopt zero-trust strategies: 78% of organizations plan to implement zero-trust strategies, and this is an excellent opportunity for practitioners to adopt a more secure approach by verifying the identity of all users and devices before granting access to sensitive resources. No one wants to be the weakest member of the herd and therefore the easiest target.
3. Monitor for ransomware attacks: ransomware is one of the top threats exploiting VPN vulnerabilities (42%), it is crucial to stay vigilant in monitoring networks for signs of ransomware activity, such as unusual network traffic or suspicious user behavior.
4. Do regular security audits and penetration testing: The threat landscape is growing, as the 30% increase in malware attacks between 2023 and 2024 indicates. Security audits and penetration testing can help identify vulnerabilities before they are exploited by attackers.
5. Invest in incident response planning: With over 7 billion records exposed in data breaches, a robust incident response plan is essential for minimizing breach impacts.
6. Implement security measures to prevent DDoS attacks: DDoS attacks are another top threat exploiting VPN vulnerabilities (30%), and implementing security measures such as rate limiting and IP blocking can mitigate these types of attacks.
7. Monitor data breaches closely: The average cost of a data breach in 2024 is $4.88 million, highlighting the importance of monitoring for signs of data breaches and taking swift action when they occur.
8. Keep up to date with security patches and updates: With an increase in malware attacks between 2023 and 2024 (30%), it is essential to stay current with the latest security patches and updates for all systems, including the latest generation of preemptive defense VPNs that Dispersive provides, to reduce the attack surface and prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities.
9. Develop a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy: By addressing these statistics and implementing robust security measures, organizations can reduce their risk exposure and protect against diverse types of cyber threats.
10. Educate users about phishing threats: Phishing remains the primary cause of data breaches (80-95%). It’s essential that your users know how to recognize and avoid phishing attacks, including those that may be launched through VPNs.