Wondering what cybersecurity trends will have the most impact in 2025? Check out six predictions from Tenable experts about cyber issues that should be on your radar screen in the new year — including AI security, data protection, cloud security … and much more!

1 – Data protection will become even more critical as AI usage surges

Because AI tools rely on vast amounts of data, widespread AI adoption will lead to the exponential growth of data volumes. In addition, this data will be distributed across a complex multi-cloud landscape of locations, accounts and applications. As a result, cybercriminals will have more opportunities to target AI systems to access and exfiltrate their data — especially as hackers themselves leverage powerful AI tools like virtual assistants that can streamline and amplify their attacks.

This convergence of advanced AI attack tools and abundant data will make it increasingly difficult for organizations to stay ahead of evolving cyberthreats. Yet, far from being deterred from using AI, organizations must develop robust strategies for secure and responsible AI adoption, focusing on integrating AI into their systems securely rather than viewing it as a risky proposition. After all, data is the fuel that powers businesses.

For more information about data and AI security posture management (DSPM and AI-SPM), check out these Tenable resources:

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Integrated DSPM features – enable data protection today!

2 – CISOs will turn to multi-cloud security platforms

When it comes to the cloud, enterprises are increasingly wary of putting all their eggs in one basket. Relying solely or mostly on a single cloud-services provider is risky and restrictive. Thus, multi-cloud environments will become the norm in 2025, as organizations avoid vendor lock-in and increase their cloud options and flexibility. 

As a result, more and more CISOs next year will embrace security platforms that allow them to protect cloud environments from multiple cloud vendors — enjoying benefits such as centralized, consistent monitoring and management of cloud security and compliance.

For more information about multi-cloud security, check out these Tenable resources:

3 – Post-breach costs will spike, forcing a focus on recovery tools

As breaches become more frequent, post-breach costs will rise, pushing businesses to think critically about what data has been compromised and rethink their recovery strategies. According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach rose 10% to almost $5 million in 2024, but the true damage lies in downtime, reputational damages and regulatory fines, particularly in cloud-heavy industries. 

 
In 2025, businesses will pivot toward more robust post-breach playbooks to minimize fallout, focusing on rapid incident response, data visibility, better containment protocols and enhanced forensic capabilities. This shift signals a broader evolution in cybersecurity, with organizations embracing a more balanced approach that prioritizes both breach prevention and effective recovery.

For more information about cloud data security and cloud data-breach prevention, check out these Tenable resources:

4 – CISOs will be pressed to balance AI and cloud adoption with security

As organizations prioritize efficiency and return on investment, the adoption of technologies like AI and cloud continues to surge. However, this creates a challenge: the knowledge gap. Many users and organizations are struggling to keep pace with the education and training needed to comprehensively understand and protect these technologies.

 
This generates a pressing dilemma: How can we safeguard innovations like AI and cloud when their complexity and growth outstrip our readiness? In 2025, CISOs will be challenged to strike a balance between driving forward technological adoption and ensuring the security and resilience of these tools. Bridging this gap sooner rather than later will be critical for organizations.

For more information about how CISOs should balance cloud adoption with AI security:

5 – Orgs with a holistic approach to cybersecurity will win 

As the attack surface continues to expand and threat actors grow more sophisticated, cybersecurity teams will face an overwhelming flood of fragmented vulnerability and threat intelligence data. The days of linear attacks are fading, giving rise to multifaceted, rapid incursions that exploit numerous entry points. In this increasingly chaotic landscape, the inability to remediate “everything, everywhere, all at once” will make context king.

 
Organizations that prioritize understanding the greatest risk to their business and the most critical vulnerabilities will win. This contextual approach will redefine vulnerability management, enabling cybersecurity teams to act strategically, swiftly and with greater precision to mitigate threats effectively.

For more information about the importance of risk context for holistic cybersecurity, check out these Tenable resources:

6 – Make 2025 the year of transparency and accountability in cybersecurity 

As 2024 comes to an end, we’re left with the feeling — as in previous years — that too many cyberattacks affected too many people and too many organizations. Anyone whose personal information is now available on the dark web deserves answers and those responsible need to be held accountable. Anyone whose medical records can’t be accessed because systems are down deserves a better service. Anyone whose car has been stolen because criminals were able to hack the keyless tech deserves justice.

 
It’s impossible to achieve perfection – mistakes happen and we’re all human. But how we respond when flaws are found makes all the difference. And that’s on all of us. There has to be accountability at every level. The culture of toxic obfuscation in cybersecurity has to stop. 

Here are some blogs in which Tenable offers transparency about its security practices and shares lessons learned with the cybersecurity community: