Google thinks these are the biggest security threats companies will face in 2025
- Google reveals predictions of the biggest cyber threats in 2025
- AI will be used in attack and defense, it predicts
- The ‘Big Four’ state actors will continue to pose a threat
Artificial intelligence has been named by leading experts as one of the biggest security threats of the coming year.
Given AI’s dominance in headlines over the past year, it will come as no surprise to most that Google’s Cybersecurity Forecast 2025 ranked AI as the primary threat, alongside state-sponsored threat actors and ransomware.
State-sponsored attacks are nothing new, but as global tensions rise and conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza continue, politically motivated attacks will continue to target critical infrastructure targets around the world – with Google identifying the ‘Big Four’ geopolitical threats to the West mentions. cybersecurity as Russia, China, Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).
AI in deepfakes
Google, like many others, predicts that AI will continue to be used as a tool for cyber defense, as well as cyber attacks, in the coming year. The large-scale adoption of semi-autonomous security operations will usher in a “second phase of AI security,” the forecast predicts.
Google sees AI as an important tool in combating threats in the future, but confirms that Information Operations (IO) actors will continue to use generative AI tools in their attacks.
Using LLMs to create content such as deepfakes and vishing, phishing and other social engineering attacks will increase the struggle for cybersecurity teams against more frequent and effective incidents.
Also in 2025, organizations around the world will likely experience ransomware extortion and data theft. The frequency and severity of ransomware have reached new heights in 2024, and customized malware attacks are expected to continue.
“Without a doubt, multifaceted extortion and ransomware will continue in 2025, likely with an increase outside the US,” said Charles Carmakal. Mandiant CTO, Google Cloud
Infostealer campaigns were seen as a growing threat in 2024, and Google expects to see more of the same next year as relatively low-skilled threat actors can use these tools to infiltrate prominent organizations.
