Cybercrime is a constant and emerging threat to organizations around the world. However, with the right information, we can greatly improve our security, reduce risk, and stay ahead of these criminals.
FortiGuard Labs’ Cyberthreat Predictions for 2025 report is designed to provide exactly this information. It identifies emerging threat trends for the coming year and provides actionable guidance on how organizations can strengthen their defenses against the ever-changing threat landscape.
As a result of this report, I would like to highlight some important findings, including developments in the cybercrime market, new areas of vulnerability, and key strategies to combat cybercrime in the coming year. Let’s dive into the details and explore how we can best protect our digital world.
An advanced cyber crime market
There is a market for everything, and unfortunately, that includes cybercrime. Driven by the promise of lucrative payments, Cybercrime-as-a-Service (CaaS) offered on the black market has proliferated over the years. While this is true on average, we expect that by 2025, the CaaS market will develop both in sophistication and sophistication.
Initially, CaaS providers offered standard services regardless of the target sector, infrastructure, or target part of the attack chain. Although this has proven to be successful to some extent, the growth of this informal market and the subsequent competition will drive CaaS providers to greater specialization allowing them to stand out among their peers. As a general market force, specialization will likely improve the efficiency of CaaS providers and ultimately increase the threat landscape.
Along with specialization, CaaS providers will look for new ways to improve the efficiency of their practices in order to improve their margins. Although not new to the world of cybercrime, criminals have already used AI to power CaaS offerings. However, we expect this trend to increase significantly by 2025. By matching the efforts of leading security vendors, CaaS teams will invest in more advanced AI capabilities to automate each stage of the attack chain and integrate those capabilities into the overall offering.
The resulting weak points
Cybercriminals will always look for the path of least resistance that leads to the biggest payoff and will adapt their methods to remain effective. While there may not be a definitive answer, identifying potential weaknesses is critical to reducing risk throughout the organization.
While edge devices are often the focus, we’ve seen threat actors increasingly target cloud environments. Although cloud technology is not new, it has piqued the interest of cybercriminals hoping to exploit the risks posed by reliance on multiple cloud providers and the potential for rapid escalation during a breach. Therefore, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing more cloud-specific vulnerabilities being launched by attackers, and we expect this trend to increase in the future.
Unfortunately, cloud attacks are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the cybercrime playbook. Attacks on critical infrastructure and healthcare providers have shown that cyber attacks can have devastating real-world consequences. We expect this trend to grow as adversaries increasingly combine cyber attacks with physical threats. Already, some cybercrime groups use physical intimidation against managers and employees. In addition, we foresee a worrying increase in international crimes, such as drug trafficking and smuggling, which are associated with cybercrime. As cybercrime groups and international criminal organizations collaborate, the threat landscape will become more complex and dangerous.
Participatory response
Staying aware of the ever-evolving tactics of cybercriminals is important, but the cybersecurity community also has an opportunity to work together to stay ahead of these threats. By working together, we can better understand and anticipate the enemy’s next move and effectively disrupt their operations.
Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility that goes beyond just the security and IT team. Implementing comprehensive security awareness and training programs across businesses around the world is essential. Strengthening global cooperation, promoting public-private partnerships, and developing strong infrastructure are essential to improving our collective defense. Initiatives such as the World Economic Forum’s Cybercrime Atlas are an example of these efforts. The Cybercrime Atlas is a public and private collaboration created to drive real impact and a collective effort to create a series of disruptions in the world of cybercrime.
We expect a growing number of organizations to engage in significant collaborations in the coming years. No single organization or security team can fight cybercrime alone. By sharing actionable intelligence and working together across the industry, we can strengthen our defenses and protect society more effectively.
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