Image credit: Datos Insights
2024 was a busy year for the cybersecurity landscape with global notable incidents such as the Crowdstrike outage and a couple of others.
In Africa, government and financial organizations were the most targeted with malware being the most used treat vector.
The year coming, 2025, would not see a downward slope of cyber attacks. In fact, companies and organizations should brace themselves for a surge in automated attacks powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
There have been multiple predictions by experts about how cybercrimes and attacks will fare in 2025. Of course, AI will take center stage, but what happens on the other side? Let’s delve into our selected 5 cybersecurity predictions to watch out for in 2025.
1. AI-driven cyberattacks
The rise of AI-powered cyberattacks has introduced highly sophisticated threats to organizations worldwide. Threat actors leverage AI to execute complex and personalized attacks, making them harder to detect and counter.
Report shows 93% of cybersecurity professionals expect AI-enabled threats to impact their organization. This indicates a high level of awareness among cybersecurity professionals about the evolving nature of cyber threats. Also, 44% of organizations are already using AI as part of their cybersecurity strategy.
2025 is not going to be different. AI-powered attacks will surge, and companies must also leverage AI in their defense strategies.
2. Increase in ransomware attacks
Ransomware remains a big threat to companies and organizations in Africa. According to Positive Technologies, malware is the most used threat vector by cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities in Africa with ransomware taking the most percentage share.
In 2024, ransomware attacks transformed profoundly as a result of increased sophisticated and aggressive cyber extortion strategies. The rise of Ransomware-as-a-Service empowers inexperienced or novice attackers to launch ransomware attacks as if they were professionals.
According to Sophos, the average recovery cost of ransomware in 2024 was $2.73 million, which represents an increase of almost $1 million from the 2023 cost of $1.82 million.
In 2025, cybersecurity experts expect ransomware attacks to skyrocket as a result of advanced techniques and the rise of Ransomware-as-a-Service.
Also read: 5 Key Cybersecurity Controls for SMEs According to Expert
3. Strict compliance regulations
It is expected that governments will lay out strict compliance protocols to govern companies, especially with how they handle customer data.
The EU’s AI Act and updates to the GDPR will enforce stricter data governance rules. In the U.S., lawmakers are advancing toward a national data privacy law.
Also, concerned governments will demand reports of how companies got attacked should any incident happen.
Regulations are set to keep companies in check with their cybersecurity measures against standards. As attacks continue to increase, particularly with AI, regulations must align.
4. Increased focus on IoT security
There are billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and experts are looking forward to more robust security measures for such devices in the coming year.
According to Viakoo, approximately 37% of IoT-related cyber incidents in 2024 were attributed to supply chain attacks. As a result of that, 89% of companies plan to spend more next year on IoT security than this year.
Regulatory bodies and policymakers are also prioritizing comprehensive security standards that mandate robust encryption and authentication protocols for IoT devices.
5. Adoption of zero trust architecture
Zero Trust Architecture redefines cybersecurity by emphasizing “never trust, always verify.”
It requires continuous authentication and monitoring of every user, device, and data flow within the network, ensuring robust protection in modern digital environments. This principle will be adopted by most companies to secure their systems in 2025.
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