Find out why you need a Red Team Service in 2025 and what to watch out for. New threat actors, AI attacks, and more. What’s on the horizon for 2025?
The holidays are upon us, but threat actors won’t be giving any respite to the defenders tasked with protecting organizations, whether or not it is the season of good cheer.
The last year has been incredibly challenging for many organizations with data breaches, global IT outages, new and dangerous vulnerability discoveries, and a persistent shortage of cybersecurity talent impacting business operations, risk management, and growth opportunities.
As 2024 comes to a close, business leaders need to be aware of the cybercriminal activities and trends likely to pose a risk in 2025, and how Red Team security assessments can benefit their organization.
2025: New Year, New Cyberthreats
As we wrap up 2024, cybersecurity experts at IOActive recommend organizations hire a Red Team to help improve your security posture, fast, by identifying new attack paths through exploitation of complex attack chains and challenging your assumptions.
Below, you will find out what the major trends in cybersecurity will be for 2025 and why our predictions highlight the growing need for Red Team engagements. Learn everything there is to know about a Red Team service as you plan for the New Year.
State-sponsored Cyberattackers, New Threat Actors Emerge
IOActive has tracked cyberattacker groups and their movements for over two decades. Our experts predict that during 2025, new entries will emerge in the state-sponsored or Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) category.
State-sponsored groups often have the most resources and backing from ruling country leaders or parties. As cross-border arrests and law enforcement collaboration is difficult or impossible in some circumstances, it can be challenging to combat their activities, which often focus on financial or intellectual property theft and cyberespionage.
We believe that rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the US, and Eastern Europe will contribute to the expansion of state-sponsored hacking and the creation of new groups entirely.
Attacks on Critical Infrastructure, Supply Chains Escalate
As state-sponsored hacking activities increase, we also expect to see an uptick in cyberattacks launched against digital supply chains and critical infrastructure.
These attacks may be for financial gain, destructive purposes, theft, or launched in response to ongoing conflicts or changing political environments. It is possible that some governments may also increase security requirements imposed on critical infrastructure providers or vendors within government software supply chains.
Ransomware
The threat of ransomware will continue to escalate throughout 2025. New strains, variants, and ransomware groups will emerge. With these changes, consumers will continue to feel the effects of their PII becoming compromised.
Let’s take Change Healthcare as an example. In February, the healthcare provider experienced a ransomware attack. It has taken eight months to confirm the number of those impacted, estimated to involve at least 100 million individuals.
Despite being HIPAA regulated, Change Healthcare has now secured the unenviable distinction of being tied to the most significant healthcare information-related data breach in the United States.
We predict that ransomware-related data breaches will increase in size and scope over the next year, and security incidents of this nature and significance will hit the headlines in 2025.
As the ransomware market becomes more lucrative, we also expect new players to enter the field to claim their slice of illicit profits. As noted in the Sophos State of Ransomware 2024 report, ransomware payments have increased by 500% in the last year alone, with organizations now reporting an average ransom payout of $2 million per incident.
The ongoing scourge of ransomware increases the urgency for organizations to conduct frequent security assessments and tackle vulnerabilities that could be used for initial network access.
Artificial Intelligence: A Blessing and a Curse
Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to transform the cybersecurity industry. While still in its infancy, threat actors will experiment with AI applications throughout 2025 to speed up malicious coding, debug malware, launch automated brute-force and phishing attacks, and spread misinformation.
AI also represents a huge opportunity for defenders. AI technologies can also be used to create tools to combat the changes to the cybercriminal landscape, as well as improve threat detection and response. However, cybersecurity experts will need to take great care in ensuring their work does not end up in the wrong hands or used for nefarious purposes.
The Cybersecurity Skills Gap
It is estimated that millions of cybersecurity jobs worldwide remain unfulfilled, and demand for cyber talent continues to increase. Gartner predicts that next year, a lack of human talent could be responsible for over half of significant cyber incidents.
As in-house positions remain unfulfilled, solutions including Red Team engagements like Assumed Breach Scenarios and Purple Team exercises can help organizations reduce their attack surface and improve their security detection and prevention capabilities.
Moving Forward: How Red Team Services Can Benefit You
Red Teams adopt an attacker’s mindset to simulate real-world attack scenarios. Security experts are then able to probe an organization’s defenses and rapidly identify vulnerabilities before cyberattackers have a chance to exploit them.
Engaging a Red Team demonstrates a proactive commitment to security and a willingness to closely examine and evaluate their existing security controls and abilities to respond to real-world attacks.
When we consider what 2025 and beyond has in store for us, engaging Red Team experts is the best way to start the new quarter. Starting Red Team exercises early in 2025 allows organizations to develop a strategic plan that will progress throughout the year, including addressing vulnerabilities, reducing attack exposure, improving incident response, and integrating security tests with upcoming engineering, development, or infrastructure projects scheduled in Q2 and beyond.
Furthermore, organizations that plan security assessments early can ensure they are factored into the annual budget, and their findings can be used to meet compliance and auditing requirements throughout 2025.
That said, organizations reap the most benefits of Red Team engagements when they have reached a certain cybersecurity maturity level. If you want to learn more about how a Red Team service can help your organization in the New Year, contact us today.
Read on: The IOActive Difference: our approach to helping you plan a Red Team Service in 2025