1. Cyberinfrastructure will be centered around a single unified data security platform
In 2025, organizations will face increased complexity by reducing the number of cybersecurity tools used and moving to a unified platform, providing improved visibility and control. The current cybersecurity skills shortage will continue to accelerate this trend. A unified platform will provide end-to-end visibility and context, spanning code repositories, cloud workloads, networks and SOCs. Ultimately, this creates a more holistic security architecture with fewer dashboards. Converging all security layers on a unified platform will optimize resources, improve overall efficiency and enable organizations to build more resilient and adaptive defenses against evolving threats.
2.2025 is the year deepfakes become mainstream in the APAC region
Deepfakes are already being used for nefarious purposes in the APAC region. Although some have been used to spread political disinformation, the most effective attacks have targeted companies for financial gain, such as an employee of a Hong Kong An engineering company was duped into transferring millions of dollars to a scammer who used deepfakes to impersonate the CFO and management team during a video conference.
Ingenious criminals will take note and use ever-improving generative AI technology to launch credible deepfake attacks. The use of audio deepfakes will also become more prevalent in these attacks, as available technology allows for highly credible voice cloning. We can expect deepfakes to be used alone or as part of a larger attack much more often in 2025.
3. Beyond the Quantum Security Hype: What to Expect in 2025
Quantum computing projects are mushrooming across the region, with governments and venture capital firms investing heavily in local initiatives.
Although quantum attacks against widely used encryption methods are not yet feasible, state-sponsored threat actors are expected to intensify their “harvest now, decrypt later” tactics, targeting highly classified data with the intent of stealing it. unlock when quantum technology advances. This poses a risk to governments and businesses, with the potential to compromise civilian and military communications, undermine critical infrastructure, and bypass security protocols for most financial transactions over the Internet. We will also likely see state actors targeting organizations developing quantum computers themselves, in industrial espionage attacks.
To effectively thwart these threats, all organizations will need to act and adopt quantum-resilient defenses, including quantum-resistant tunneling, comprehensive cryptographic data libraries, and other technologies with enhanced crypto-agility. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently published the final standards for post-quantum cryptography. The transition to these algorithms will help secure data against future quantum threats. Organizations that require a high level of security should explore quantum key distribution (QKD) as a means of ensuring secure communications. As quantum computing increasingly becomes a reality and potential threats loom, adopting these measures will be essential to keep pace with the rapidly evolving cyber landscape, prevent data theft, and ensure the integrity of critical systems.
For now, CIOs can debunk any hype around this topic with the board. Although significant progress has been made in quantum annealing, military-grade encryption has still not been broken.
4. Transparency will be the cornerstone of maintaining customer trust in the AI era
Regulators in the APAC region are beginning to focus on the data protection and cybersecurity implications of the growing use of AI models. This is part of an overall attempt to build confidence in the use of AI and encourage AI-driven innovation.
In 2025, AI lawmakers’ focus on ethics, data protection and transparency will remain. However, the increased use of AI models will lead to a greater emphasis on AI security as well as the integrity and reliability of the data used. Transparency and proactive communication about the mechanics of AI models, particularly regarding data collection, training datasets and decision-making processes, will be key to building customer trust.
5. Increased focus on product integrity and supply chain security in 2025
In 2025, we can expect organizations to focus more on product integrity and supply chain resilience. Specifically, they will conduct much more in-depth risk assessments, review liability and legal implications of business outages, and review insurance arrangements.
In cloud environments, where complexity and scalability amplify risks, real-time visibility has become a necessity. Expect to see a greater focus on comprehensive monitoring involving continuous tracking of infrastructure and application performance metrics.
To hear Palo Alto Networks world leaders on what to expect in AI and cybersecurity and to learn more about what Palo Alto Networks predicts in 2025, visit here.
