As we move into 2025, it’s important to adjust your IT and cybersecurity strategy. The field is continually evolving, which presents both challenges and opportunities. From adapting to hybrid work environments to combating cyber threats, it is vital to understand the latest IT security trends for businesses. It’s key to staying secure and competitive, and a managed cybersecurity company is a great way to start.

1. What Emerging Technology Trends for Businesses Do You Expect to See in 2025?

Technology is always advancing quickly and will influence many parts of our world, especially IT security for businesses. Remote work is still sticking around, and it continues to challenge traditional security models. Your business needs to focus on advanced protection methods. 

Here’s what you should expect to see in 2025: 

• Cybersecurity and AI: Cybersecurity strategies and solutions are going to be using more AI and machine learning. This helps detect unusual behavior and will flag potential risks. Since ransomware concerns never sleep, AI security solutions are an effective way to remain constantly vigilant. 
• Hybrid computing: More and more companies are leveraging the advantages of the cloud and on-premise servers. This helps businesses optimize costs and maintain the flexibility of their IT environments. Industries like legal and professional services tend to embrace this setup more often. 
• AI: Beyond cybersecurity, businesses are increasingly integrating AI to streamline operations and boost productivity. You need to stay updated with AI advancements to remain competitive and secure.

2. How Are Businesses Adapting to the Rise of Remote Work in Terms of Cybersecurity?

Even though Covid-19 is long over, many companies are remaining remote or hybrid. You must reevaluate your IT security strategy to adapt to the demands of remote or hybrid work. 

Two major strategies pop into mind when discussing remote work and cybersecurity. The first is a bring your own device (BYOD) policy. In order to successfully have a BYOD policy and strong cybersecurity, you must ensure your employees’ personal devices meet security standards to minimize vulnerabilities. You may need to install software on their device. 

The other component is knowing which cybersecurity solutions will work best for your remote or hybrid working model. You can adopt a secure access service edge (SASE) system, which is like a VPN but proprietary to your organization. You may also want to consider a zero-trust architecture which will always verify users’ activities. 

Other IT security trends for businesses to consider include:

• Endpoint detection and response (EDR).
• Mobile device management (MDM) systems. 
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA). 

These solutions are becoming essential parts of the cybersecurity framework for remote teams.

3. What Role Does Artificial Intelligence Play in Modern IT Security Strategies?

AI has been a hot topic when discussing IT security trends for businesses in 2024. In 2025, that is only going to continue. AI plays a significant role in cybersecurity as it enhances protection and proactively identifies threats. 

Keep these things in mind when leveraging AI for your IT security:

• Augmenting security: You can use AI to automate responses to cybersecurity events and unusual activities. This helps relieve the burden on human analysts. We believe it’s best at intrusion detection, risk assessment and analyzing large amounts of data to easily spot trends or see if anything is “off.” 
• Combating AI-driven threats: Cybercriminals are also leveraging AI to create more sophisticated attacks, like harder-to-detect phishing emails. 
• Human oversight: While AI has many positives, human oversight will remain important for a while. Security professionals will need to interpret the findings, double-check them and decide on the best course of action. 

As Richard Blanco, our CTO, puts it: “Good guys and bad guys are using AI. The good guys are augmenting the analysis that takes place, while the bad guys are using AI to create more sophisticated attacks.”

4. How Can Businesses Protect Themselves Against Increasing Ransomware Threats?

Another IT security trend for businesses is ransomware attacks. Unfortunately, they continue to be a major threat to businesses. Implementing a multi-layered defense strategy is key. 

Backing up your data is a key strategy in handling a ransomware attack. Ensure you have regular, secure and isolated backups. These isolated backups need to be disconnected from your network. Another part of the backup strategy is having a written disaster recovery plan. This ensures you can quickly restore operations in the event of an attack.

Proactively monitoring your network with endpoint protection strategies like EDR is crucial for safeguarding against ransomware. 

Another vital layer is educating your employees on identifying suspicious activities. Encourage them to report any anomalies, as this can prevent attacks.

5. How Important Is Employee Training in Maintaining a Secure IT Environment?

Technology and the right cybersecurity solutions are important to keeping your company safe, but one of the most important factors is your team. Unfortunately, people tend to be one of the weakest security links in many companies. 

When you train your employees to be aware of security issues. your cybersecurity posture will increase greatly.

All it takes to bring down an organization is one employee clicking on a link in a phishing email. Train your team on how to spot these attempts and regularly send fake phishing emails to reinforce what they have learned. 

We highly recommend conducting training sessions at least once a quarter. Educate employees on phishing, company policies and more. You need to tailor these programs to meet the needs of your team. Do bite-size training exercises work better for them? Does having an expert come in help them be more engaged?

Ensuring compliance with best practices is vital for all organizations, regardless of size.

6. How Can Companies Effectively Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)?

One of the more effective ways to secure user access and prevent unauthorized breaches is with multi-factor authentication (MFA). You might also hear this IT security trend for businesses referred to as two-factor authentication (2FA). 

When implementing MFA, start with the high-risk users; usually your leadership or finance team. These users tend to have more access to the information cybercriminals want. Once MFA is working well for them, gradually roll it out to the rest of your organization. 

There are multiple types of MFA you can use at your organization. If you work in a regulated industry, you may need to use a certain one of these options: 

• Authenticator apps
• Biometric verification
• Secure tokens
• Email-based authentication
• SMS-based authentication (this one tends to be the weakest as it’s vulnerable to phone cloning) 

To keep your team compliant, educate them about the benefits of MFA both with work devices and those they use personally. Mitigate any potential security gaps by using tools that will monitor for adoption or conduct an audit.

7. What Are the Implications of Data Privacy Regulations on IT Security Practices?

The last IT security trend for businesses in 2025 is data privacy regulations. These regulations are continuing to evolve. Businesses will need to strengthen their security practices to comply.  

Compliance laws in regulated industries will force your organization to enforce stricter measures for data access and storage. Your organization may need to be ready to meet breach notification timelines, especially in public companies where there are stricter disclosure obligations after cybersecurity events. 

Regulated industries such as finance or healthcare may have even stricter standards for data privacy due to the sensitive nature of the information they handle. Cybersecurity insurance is also being required more often. In order to qualify for a cybersecurity insurance policy, your business may need to invest in robust cybersecurity measures. 

Lastly, our friend AI is back. Some new regulations are emerging about managing how AI uses consumer data. This will likely mean new compliance regulations for your organization to follow.

Preparing for IT Security in 2025

The IT security trends for businesses in the coming year only emphasize the importance of proactive measures and a layered cybersecurity approach. AI is involved in almost every single trend as its impact on our world keeps expanding. 

Partnering with the IT security experts at Internos will ensure your business is ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. Get started by booking a meeting with us today.