Roland Daccache, Senior Sales Engineering Manager – Middle East & Africa, CrowdStrike, shares his cybersecurity predictions for 2025 and outlines the strategies required to maintain robust security postures in the new year and beyond.
Adversaries continue to become faster and stealthier, with increasingly sophisticated attack methods. Now more than ever, organisations need cybersecurity expertise at all organisational levels and technology with the power to detect and stop modern threats. To effectively safeguard their operations, businesses must gain visibility into identity infrastructures and modernise their security operations centres (SOCs), among other key steps.
Below are our recommendations for the measures organisations must take to defend against cyberthreats in the new year:
Gain visibility into identity infrastructure
Identity is the new major battleground in cybersecurity – and visibility is critical to building a strong defence. Seventy-five percent of initial access attempts are now malware-free. Attackers use stolen credentials to breach identity systems, cloud platforms and endpoints. Because they are simply logging in with legitimate credentials, these attacks often leave little evidence and appear as isolated incidents, making them harder to detect.
Greater visibility is the key to detecting stealthy identity-focused threats, but it’s challenging to achieve when security and IT teams work in silos and use separate tools. To effectively identify and stop these attacks, teams need an AI-native cybersecurity platform that unifies visibility across cloud, endpoints and identities. This cohesive approach both improves visibility and streamlines detection and response. The integration of AI accelerates these efforts by analysing vast datasets to identify anomalies and enable fast, accurate detection and action.
Failing to secure identity systems in 2025 leaves organisations exposed to attackers seeking easier and more effective ways to breach their targets. Protecting these systems should be a core part of any security strategy to stay ahead of identity-focused attacks.
Modernise the security operations centre
Security teams are struggling to keep up with today’s fast-moving threats, with the average eCrime breakout time just 62 minutes. Legacy security information and event management (SIEM) platforms compound the problem by flooding SOCs with excessive, irrelevant or duplicated data, making it harder to detect and respond to threats effectively. Today’s threat landscape requires a modernised approach that can give security teams the speed they need to match the adversary. This requires a SOC transformation powered by the next generation of SIEM technology.
Organisations need scalable, cloud-native platforms built to manage modern data volumes, consolidate redundant tools and integrate with existing ecosystems. A next-generation SIEM solution addresses these needs by unifying critical data sources – such as endpoint, cloud and identity – to reduce data management costs and eliminate delays. Clear security objectives and streamlined data further enhance SOC efficiency by enabling platforms to orchestrate real-time responses using AI and Machine Learning. SOC teams need real-time intelligence, high-fidelity detections and automation that provides actionable context to outpace today’s sophisticated adversaries.
Organisations must act now to stay ahead of adversaries, but this transformation will take time. Procrastination in SOC modernisation will leave businesses vulnerable in an increasingly sophisticated threat landscape.
Integrate security expertise across the business
As cyberthreats evolve, the role of cybersecurity professionals is more critical than ever. According to Ernst and Young, 72% of public Fortune 100 companies disclosed cyber as an area of expertise sought on its board. Nearly as many (71%) disclosed cybersecurity in at least one director biography, up from 34% in 2018. While this is a positive development, it’s essential to extend security expertise beyond the boardroom and integrate it throughout the organisation.
Embedding cybersecurity advisors at multiple levels ensures security strategies align with business goals and are effectively implemented. These professionals foster a culture of security awareness, ensuring all teams understand their role in protecting the organisation against threats. From overseeing the deployment of advanced tools to ensuring best practices are followed, their influence is vital to bridging gaps in expertise.
Distributed expertise is critical in managing emerging technologies such as AI and mitigating risks from interconnected systems. Businesses that fail to integrate cybersecurity throughout their operations risk falling behind as adversaries grow more sophisticated. Proactive integration of cybersecurity talent at all levels is a necessity for long-term resilience.
AI’s growth demands robust cybersecurity
GCC countries, KSA and UAE in particular, are set to significantly increase investments in Artificial Intelligence driven by government initiatives. These initiatives will need to be secured.
There is a massive focus in testing and deploying Generative AI across sectors like healthcare, education, finance and energy, as well as developing the regulatory framework for Generative AI technologies.
These trends will inevitably lead to increased demand in cybersecurity, in particular when it comes to protecting AI innovations. Events like GITEX in Dubai and Black Hat in KSA have witnessed a massive increase in the number of homegrown start-ups paving the way toward an AI-powered future that promises to enhance national resilience, secure the adoption of Generative AI technologies and solidify the region as a leader in the digital economy.
The evolving threat landscape demands a proactive and integrated approach to cybersecurity. By prioritising identity, modernising SOCs, embedding cybersecurity expertise throughout the organisation, and securing AI innovations, businesses can build resilience against sophisticated attacks. Embracing these strategies is essential for maintaining robust security postures in 2025 and beyond.
