Costs due to cybercrime are expected to reach $12 trillion by 2025. But these cybercriminals aren’t using obvious attacks anymore. They’re evolving and developing new and harder-to-detect cyberattacks at an alarming rate. That’s why in this blog, we’ll cover the cyberattack trends in 2025 and what hackers are doing differently this year. From AI-driven malware to using fake CAPTCHA.
1. AI-Driven Malware
AI-driven malware is different from traditional malware because it can dynamically adapt, learn, and optimize attacks in real time. This makes it harder to detect and get rid of. The main dangers from AI-driven malware are:
- Constant Evolution: Once inside a system, this type of malware will constantly evolve in its environment in real time. Usually, it aims to avoid detection and maximize damage to whatever it has infected.
- Stealth in Systems: AI-driven malware can use algorithms to analyze infiltrated systems and learn how to avoid detection. It may even sit in its systems doing nothing until it finds the right time to attack. This makes these attacks significantly harder to detect.
- Barrier to Entry: Traditional malware generally requires an experienced and skilled coder to develop, and it takes a considerable amount of time. But AI has simplified this process, making the creation of malicious code easier than ever.
2. Insider Threats from Remote Work
As we covered in this blog, cybercriminals are now conducting insider threat attacks by applying for remote jobs. In our blog, we talked about North Korean cybercriminals who applied to remote IT roles to gain access to sensitive data. Once they had access, they would extract the data and send it to their government.
They would get these jobs by using fake or stolen identities, perfect resumes to trick applicant tracking systems (ATS), deepfake video, and AI while interviewing. Over 100 companies in the U.S. were compromised, some being Fortune 500 companies.
There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of more of these attacks that are happening right now that haven’t been reported yet.
Fake LinkedIn Profile Examples
3. Social Engineering with Deepfakes
A deepfake is an artificial image or video generated by deep learning. Social engineering is a technique used by cybercriminals to manipulate individuals into doing something. Alone, this is already a dangerous attack. But with the addition of a deepfake, it adds an extra layer to make these attacks even more devastating.
In one attack, there was an employee in a Hong Kong office who fell for one of these attacks. Reportedly, the attackers used “fake voices and images” to trick this employee into sending them $25 million.
This isn’t just affecting businesses, as even individuals can be targets of these attacks. If you have any public photos or videos of yourself, an attacker may impersonate your face and voice. SIM swapping is a common attack that uses social engineering and deepfakes.
4. Fake CAPTCHA Attacks
We are all familiar with CAPTCHA. Usually, you click a box so it knows you’re not a robot, or you may have to select all the squares that have bikes. But nowadays, even these are being used to distribute malware to unsuspecting users.
These attacks look like a normal CAPTCHA, except they will ask you to do a series of steps. These steps may be:
- Press & hold the Windows Key + R
- In the verification window, press Ctrl + V
- Press Enter on your Keyboard
- Click the Verify button to finish
These fake CAPTCHA can be found on any ordinary website. Usually through ads or other compromised content. So, when you follow those steps, it installs malware into your device. A legitimate CAPTCHA will never ask you to do steps such as those we discussed.
Photo by Trendmicro
How to Protect Against These 2025 Threats
Some of these attacks may seem sophisticated and hard to defend from, but we’ll give some actionable advice on how to avoid these cyberattacks. Here are what we recommend businesses do to protect themselves in this new age of cyberattacks:
- Train Staff: Human error is one of the leading causes of cyberattacks, with 95% of data breaches being caused by it. Employees need to be educated on what to look out for online. Teach them how to spot a fake CAPTCHA, deepfake attacks, and insider threats.
- Develop or Update Incident Response Plan: An incident response plan helps you respond to a breach and get your organization back up and running as soon as possible. Developing or updating your existing one is crucial as new threats evolve at such a rapid pace.
- Partner With an MSP: Partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) helps organizations fulfill their IT and cybersecurity needs. This allows a business to manage its technology more efficiently and effectively so that the business can focus on its core operations and goals.
Why Companies Choose Us to Protect Them
As we’ve covered in this blog, hackers have developed harder-to-detect attacks at an alarming rate. We’ve only discussed the tip of the iceberg that is evolving cyberattacks. Do you know if your business is prepared for the road ahead? If not, consider partnering with us. Services we offer are:
- Cybersecurity Services: 24/7 monitoring, backup & disaster recovery, network security, incident response services, and mor
- IT Services: Infrastructure management, IT support, network monitoring, email management and support, and more.
- Helpdesk: Password resets & account access issues, file and data issues, printer/scanner support, desktop/laptop/OS support, and more.
- Co-managed Services: If you already have an in-house IT team, you can partner with us so you keep control of your in-house team, while we reinforce your IT and cybersecurity infrastructure.
With us being a top 250 MSSP, we have proven ourselves as respected and trusted industry leaders. Our goal is to defend against cyber threats and keep our clients’ businesses unstoppable.
You deserve top-tier protection, and we want to help you build it. Fill out our free cybersecurity and IT infrastructure assessment to see if your business has any IT and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Partner With Someone Who Evolves to Combat Emerging Threats
Call Us: (479) 434-1400 – Speak directly with our team of IT and cybersecurity professionals.
Visit Our Website: www.kirkhamirontech.com – Learn how we can protect your business.
Email Us: info@kirkhamirontech.com – Let us know your infrastructure concerns.
Tom Kirkham brings more than three decades of software design, network administration, and cybersecurity knowledge to organizations around the country. During his career, Tom has received multiple software design awards and founded other acclaimed technology businesses.
