Top 5 cyber risks for 2025

1.

Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware continues to be a major threat to businesses of all sizes. In the turn of the year, we are expecting to see attackers employ even more sophisticated tactics, making it crucial for companies to regularly update and patch their systems. Phishing is known to be one of the leading methods that can lead to ransomware attacks and with the continued development of AI comes the increasing sophistication of phishing attacks. With this, employee education on recognising phishing attempts and suspicious links is also paramount in preventing these malicious attacks.

2.

Supply Chain Vulnerabilities

The increasing reliance on interconnected supply chains should not go unnoticed, as this can bring about new avenues for cyber threats. Organisations should increase the scrutiny in which they review and assess the cybersecurity measures of their partners and suppliers, ensuring that everyone in the supply chain maintains robust security protocols. A breach in one link can have cascading effects throughout the entire chain.

3.

Cloud Security Challenges

The widespread adoption of cloud services brings about new cybersecurity challenges. Prioritising the security of data stored in the cloud and, as mentioned above, in respect of interconnected supply chains, ensuring that cloud service providers have robust security measures in place. This can include implementing multi-factor authentication, encrypting sensitive data, and regularly auditing access permissions.

4.

AI

With the application of AI becoming more widespread, so do the risks associated with AI. As well as the protections it can afford, hackers can look to benefit from AI in a number of ways. The ability to create advanced malware, use large language models to improve the quality of written communication in phishing attacks and the ability to evade security systems and as a result protection should be a high priority as AI continues to develop and finds itself more embedded in day-to-day operations.

5.

DeepFakes

Sophisticated use of audio and video deepfakes are currently low likelihood but high impact attacks. As capabilities continue to increase, we expect the barrier to entry for this type of complex and targeted fraud to be lowered. They will nevertheless still require a degree of sophistication (and effort) that should prevent their deployment on a mass scale, but it is important for businesses to understand that the realism of fakes is ever increasing, as is the likelihood of successful attacks.