In line with a continuously changing threat landscape, Gartner’s top cybersecurity trends for 2025 run the gamut from the impact of generative AI to tech optimization, burnout, managing machine identities, and ongoing talent shortages. Read about the firm’s six cybersecurity trends for this year.
1. The rise of GenAI will transform data security programs.
The organizational focus is shifting to prioritize protecting unstructured data, such as text, images, and video. Previously, security and financial resources have concentrated on protecting structured data such as databases.
2. Managing machine identities becomes enterprise-wide.
There is widespread use of machine accounts and credentials for physical devices and software workload, thanks to the increasing adoption of AI; this expands an organization’s attack surface. Consequently, leaders must not only develop a strategy to implement robust machine identity and access management (IAM), but ensure it is a coordinated enterprise-wide effort.
Similarly, Zilla Security’s 2025 State of IGA Report found that identity governance is broken. According to the report, 84% of organizations still rely on manual identity governance and administration (IGA) processes, leaving them vulnerable to attack, inefficient, and overwhelmed by growing compliance demands.
3. AI initiatives will be reprioritized.
Mixed results with AI implementations are pushing security leaders to focus on narrower use cases with more measurable impacts. As implementations become more tactical, they will be aligned with AI practices and tools with existing metrics on existing initiatives, to enhance visibility of the real value of AI investments.
4. Cybersecurity technology gets optimized.
Organizations use an average of 45 cybersecurity tools, according to a 2024 Gartner survey of 162 large enterprises. With more than 3,000 vendors in cybersecurity, leaders need to consolidate and validate core security controls in their toolsets to build more efficient and effective security programs.
5. GenAI brings value to security behavior and culture programs.
Effective leaders recognize the value of security behavior and culture programs and the use of GenAI to reduce employee-driven cybersecurity incidents. Cultural and behavior-focused activities have increased to address cyber-risk comprehension, a strategic shift toward embedding security into the organizational culture.
SEE: IT Leader’s Guide to Cybersecurity Awareness Training (TechRepublic Premium)
6. Investments in team wellness initiatives.
Security leadership and team burnout are key concerns for an industry already impacted by what Gartner calls a systemic skills shortage. This pervasive stress is due to the relentless demands associated with securing highly complex organizations in constantly changing threat, regulatory, and business environments, with limited authority, executive support, and resources.
A 2024 report from BlackFog found that 24% of CISOs/IT security decision makers want to leave their jobs for reasons including long hours and stress over the use of AI to launch cyberattacks. As a result, it will become a priority to recognize and address stress management among leaders and their teams, Gartner said.
