Six Cybersecurity Trends Heating Up In 2025

by Mike Wilson

As 2024 wraps, the ramifications of the year’s major cybersecurity events show no sign of abating. Record-breaking data breaches affecting companies such as AT&T, Snowflake and Ticketmaster, global IT outages that crippled businesses, and ongoing security staffing shortages are just a few of the trends at play. In addition, geopolitical conflicts and the intense U.S. political climate are increasingly impacting the cybersecurity industry.

Further complicating this already complex landscape is the maturation of technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, which bring both opportunities and challenges for security professionals. Below are a few of the trends I expect to take shape throughout 2025.

1. Diversification Of Security Providers

Companies have historically sought to consolidate their number of security vendors and tools. In 2025, the CrowdStrike incident will continue to reverberate, with many now wary of relying on a single-source vendor. Expect to see a move toward a more heterogeneous security stack that will enable organizations to avoid single points of failure, balance risk and sidestep vendor lock-in. This will provide an ancillary benefit—encouraging competitive innovation in the industry.

2. Trusting In Zero-Trust Security

Implementing zero-trust principles gives organizations more granular insight into network activity and user behavior. The approach continuously authenticates all users, devices and network traffic, protecting against insider threats and lateral movement by cybercriminals. Some organizations have already embraced zero trust, but I think we’ll see many more follow suit in 2025, with perimeter-based security ultimately rendered obsolete.

Zero trust is particularly crucial for companies with remote workers and, with the latter making up 22% of the American workforce by next year, expect this trend to drive continued adoption. Case in point: The zero-trust market is predicted to triple from $31.45 billion to $95.22 billion by 2030.

3. AI And ML: Ready For Prime Time

The security benefits of AI and ML have been hyped for years, only to fall short of their promise. I believe 2025 is the year this will change, with AI becoming more tightly integrated into many different security workflows and products.

That’s not to say that the technology is the answer to all security problems, but as users start to understand its realistic benefits and limitations firsthand, I think we’ll see a collective recognition that AI deserves a seat at the security table. Getting past the hype and comprehending which jobs AI is and is not appropriate for is critical, however.

4. Combating The Human Problem

One example of how it can assist is in mitigating the threats inadvertently introduced by people. Users are a hallmark security vulnerability, with Stanford finding that 88% of data breaches are caused by simple human error. People-centric security and behavioral analytics are emerging to combat this threat, often with the help of AI. For example, intelligent copilots can help employees analyze incoming emails for phishing red flags, while SIEM systems can be augmented with AI-powered behavioral analytics to look for signs of suspicious behavior.

5. Passwordless Solutions Proliferate—Along With Passwords

Passwordless solutions have grown more mainstream, with some larger websites and applications now offering a switch to passkey-based authentication. This will continue throughout 2025, but it’s a mistake to assume their popularity means passwords are no longer relevant. The latter remains the standard authentication go-to and fallback for nearly all systems, and this is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

6. Bolstering Critical Infrastructure

Cyberattacks against critical infrastructure surged in 2024, increasing by 30% from the prior year. The regulatory environment has traditionally lagged behind these threats, but this will change in 2025. In October 2025, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is expected to issue the final rule of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA). Look for companies to begin implementing new solutions and procedures to help them comply with the various requirements before the final rule goes into effect.

They say the only constant is change, and that certainly rings true in the cybersecurity industry. The dawning of the new year will bring new challenges, but also new technologies and products to help protect the expanding attack surface.