7 Cybersecurity Predictions for 2025: Prepare for a Bumpy Ride

As we quickly approach a new year, the threat landscape is evolving. Here, we share the most pressing cybersecurity predictions across critical infrastructure, operational technology (OT), ransomware, artificial intelligence, the supply chain, and more. Informed by our research and threat intelligence work, organizations can use these insights to prepare for upcoming risks and stay ahead of potential threats.

In 2025, the cybersecurity landscape will be defined by sophisticated, multi-layered threats from AI-assisted hacking to persistent ransomware and targeted OT attacks. As threat actors evolve their tactics, organizations must stay proactive and use the latest technologies and strategies to protect their critical infrastructure and assets.

 

Cybersecurity Prediction #1: Cybercriminals Will Get Crafty with New Custom Attacks on Routers and Perimeter Devices

In 2024, we saw threat actors increasingly targeting network perimeter devices, including routers, firewalls, and VPNs. In the first half of the year alone, 20% of newly exploited vulnerabilities focused on these assets, a trend we expect to persist with growing sophistication.

Notably, advanced persistent threats from China have developed several custom malware for espionage on perimeter devices recently – such as ZuoRAT, HiatusRAT, and COATHANGER – and deployed those on thousands of devices across the world, supposedly as part of pre-positioning activities.

Sophisticated targeting of perimeter devices through custom malware and other methods can lead to privileged access to networks, making them high-value targets for state-sponsored actors like China, with other countries like Iran potentially following suit in 2025.

Based on our 2024 research, these are the riskiest device assets within today’s networks:

Our research uses data from our Device Cloud repository of nearly 19 million devices in every industry across the globe.

 

Cybersecurity Prediction #2: Legacy OT Systems Will Be a Cybercrime Goldmine as Entry Point to Critical Infrastructure

With increasing integration between IT, IoT and OT devices, custom malware will increase threats to critical infrastructure similar to what’s happening to perimeter devices. Botnets and other opportunistic IoT malware already include capabilities, such as infection via well-known OT credentials. By 2025, we predict a rise in attacks leveraging opportunistic malware that may disrupt operations.

Legacy OT systems remain vulnerable. As we’ve seen this past year in the water sector, too many assets and devices are unmanaged and exposed. If attacked, these systems can serve as an entry point to critical infrastructure systems. As demonstrated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, critical infrastructure is at risk, highlighting that proactive vulnerability management is an urgent priority.

 

Cybersecurity Prediction #3: Nation-States Will Hijack ‘Grassroots’ Hacktivist Cyber Attacks to Wage a Silent War

Since 2022, we’ve seen hacktivism tactics increasingly leveraged in regional conflicts like Russia-Ukraine and the Middle East. By 2025, more nations will adopt hacktivist identities to carry out sophisticated cyberattacks—moving beyond defacements and DDoS to include massive data breaches and cyber-physical disruptions. With tensions rising, such as the conflict between China and Taiwan, we anticipate more nation-states will use hacktivist fronts to execute covert cyber operations.

 

Cybersecurity Prediction #4: Ransomware Threats Persist with Less Innovation, But More Financial Impact

While ransomware evolution may be slowing, its danger is more pronounced than ever. Threat actors aren’t fixing what isn’t broken. The golden age of ransomware innovation appears over due to many encryptors’ source codes that have been leaked or shared, yet the payouts are rising at alarming rates. With larger organizations in the crosshairs, we expect ransom demands to surge past the average $2.73 million from 2024, as cybercriminals target high-value victims for bigger payouts.

Newer extortion methods, such as double extortion using data leaks and triple extortion with DDoS attacks, and other technical innovations, such as accelerated encryption and attacks on virtualization servers, were common up to 2022.

Despite all this, ransomware attacks are still rising in number year over year, and even more concerning is the rise of the groups that launch these attacks. This is despite international law enforcement operations that have broken large criminal cartels. Although we don’t see much change in ransomware strategy in the coming year, we expect more cases and more organizations exposing victims on their data leak pages.

Strategic Focus for Organizations

Organizations should adopt ransomware-specific defense layers, including automated backup systems, threat detection systems that cover their most common TTPs, and collaborative incident response protocols. Ensuring network segmentation and least-privilege access across infrastructure can further mitigate ransomware’s impact by preventing the fast spread of infections and the encryption of critical systems.

 

Cybersecurity Prediction #5: Threat Actors Will Hijack Supply Chains with ‘Invisible’ Firmware Threats

Nation-state actors are increasingly weaponizing firmware supply chain attacks, embedding malicious code during manufacturing that bridges cyber and physical warfare. The recent compromise of communication devices by Israel demonstrates how firmware-level threats can have real-world impact. Traditional defenses and documentation, including Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs), are merely reactive and neglect to provide true visibility and detection of these risks and sophisticated implants. As IoT adoption grows, supply chain risks escalate, making it imperative for organizations to secure every step of the production and distribution process.

 

Cybersecurity Prediction #6: Autonomous Business Compromise Will Allow Cybercriminals to Steal Money While You Sleep

Business Email Compromise (BEC) could evolve into Autonomous Business Compromise (ABC) where AI will automate fraud with minimal human interaction. Cybercriminals will target AI-driven processes like supply chain management and financial planning to conduct high-stakes fraud without ever stepping foot in the target’s inbox. This allows cybercriminals to carry out attacks without reliance on social engineering methods to trick an individual into making a payment.

 

Cybersecurity Prediction #7: Advanced AI Deployments Will Power the Next Generation of Cyberattacks

AI is the game changer for cybercriminals. By 2025, attackers will leverage AI to automate and accelerate their campaigns, adapting to defenses in real-time and making attacks more effective and harder to detect than ever before. As AI is integrated into complex decision-making systems like supply chain management and financial planning, it also presents new opportunities for cybercriminals. Attacks involving model manipulation, data poisoning, supply chain disruptions, and AI-assisted fraud are expected to be among the first attack vectors.

 

Learn more about Forescout Research – Vedere Labs

 

For more insights and detailed reports on staying ahead of 2025’s cybersecurity challenges, visit Forescout’s research center.

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