2025 Security Predictions from TeamViewer

As technology evolves, so do the opportunities and challenges in cybersecurity. From the growing influence of quantum computing to the increasing demand for practical AI applications, 2025 promises to be a pivotal year for businesses striving to stay secure in a rapidly changing digital landscape. As TeamViewer’s CISO, I’m eager to discuss the key cybersecurity trends shaping the future and share how organisations can stay ahead of the curve.

Prediction: Security teams that focus on “boring” will prevail

The security teams that focus on the “boring” aspects of the job –  e.g. patch management to reduce the attack surface, maintaining a clean environment and ridding the enterprise of data that’s no longer needed – will ward off far more cyber attacks than those hyper-focused on the latest cyber attacker to make headlines.

Advice: Security teams can think of themselves as “cyber janitors” who do a lot of regular clean-up to maintain a secure environment. While boring at times, the benefits are two-fold. First, ward off cyber attacks and second, for cloud-based companies, regular maintenance of data and systems means the ongoing deletion of unnecessary information that can save the enterprise a significant amount of money in lessening how much data storage and compute resources are needed.

Prediction: Businesses bid farewell to BYOD

I predict an uptick in enterprises rolling back Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies and requiring work to be done only on corporate-owned devices. Back in 2009, when BYOD first became a trend, it started because executives wanted to access email and corporate information on their personal devices. It was never a strategic move from an average worker’s need or enterprise security perspective. With the need for enterprises to harden their security procedures – in the wake of constantly evolving and costly cyber threats – business leaders are now listening to CISOs who recommend a rollback to the nearly two-decade-old BYOD trend.

Advice: CISOs will need to work closely with change management teams within businesses to educate leaders and all employees on why BYOD doesn’t make sense from a security perspective. While it will take time, it is critical in combating growing cyber threats.

Prediction: Regulation will be priority #1 for most CISOs

2025 will be a year of tremendous regulatory change that will require the utmost attention of CISOs navigating an ever-evolving geo-political environment.

In the U.S., a potential focus on de-regulation by the incoming administration will be something that impacts businesses globally, especially regarding standards setting by organisations like the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), which issued NIST 2.0 in 2024, guidelines for managing risks in all industries of any size, including government and academia. CISOs will also get more protective about how they see cybersecurity in regard to national security, especially as we see China ramping up their regulatory frameworks, making it more difficult for Western companies to comply.

In Europe, CISOs will also be focused on the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which banks, credit institutions, investment firms and other financial entities must comply with, beginning Jan. 17, 2025,  as well as the broader Network and Information Security Directive (NIS-2), which impacts a wide range of EU businesses.

Advice: CISOs are wise to think globally when it comes to cyber regulations, and this is a must for enterprises with customers located around the world. By dedicating resources to stay abreast of the latest regulatory changes – which could be plentiful in 2025 – CISOs will be able to anticipate changes to their organisation’s security policy before it becomes a concern with a customer or prospect.

Prediction: Quantum computing awareness goes mainstream

In 2025, we’ll see an uptick in mainstream awareness of quantum computing, and companies will start taking the looming post-quantum world more seriously. As the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) in the U.S. is already certifying post-quantum encryption methods for various applications, I expect these standards will be adopted throughout the industry, and companies will begin planning for how they’ll need to adapt their products. While tech giants have long been planning – including Apple with the announcement of iMessage with PQ3, a post-quantum cryptographic protocol for secure messaging in 2024 – smaller tech companies will now follow suit.

While I think we’re still a minimum of five years away from “Q Day” – when quantum computers finally break encryption algorithms – that could change quickly. Consider ChatGPT and the drastic changes we’ve seen in AI over the past two years. Very few predicted this mass adoption would happen as quickly as it did, and now you’d be hard-pressed to find a product or service that doesn’t incorporate it.

Advice: As quantum computing advances, organisations must prepare for its profound impact on remote data security. Future quantum computers will likely be able to crack the encryption systems we rely on today, rendering many of today’s security measures obsolete. The first step is to identify encryption use across critical remote access points – from VPNs to employee logins – and plan the transition to post-quantum cryptographic standards. While they can be threatening, quantum technologies also present opportunities to enhance remote connectivity.

Prediction: A rise in personal AI-powered security assistants

Security for remote work will shift dramatically from traditional models to AI-powered systems. This shift will be marked by personal AI-powered security assistants that proactively identify threats while providing personalised guidance to employees, fundamentally changing how organisations protect their distributed workforce.

Advice: As remote and hybrid work becomes the norm, businesses must rethink their security strategies to address the risks of operations spread across offices, homes and different parts of the world. A strong security posture starts with clear leadership – keeping employees informed, consistently training partners and vendors, and collaborating across the industry on briefings, forums, and with government entities. But security must also be baked into the core of remote connectivity, through rigorous identity management, access policies, and secure data transmission.

How will cybersecurity trends adapt to new technologies in 2025? What will technology be like in the next 5 years?

We’ll continue to see AI play a pivotal role in cybersecurity, but in 2025, we’ll be moving to a new phase of the hype cycle. In a report TeamViewer recently issued, we uncovered that 65% of decision-makers in the U.S. are sick of the AI hype and want practical implementations of AI for their business. I think leaders will make this happen in 2025, and we’ll see more mature enterprise use cases of AI. The past two years have been years of trial, error and exploration. Now, companies want to see return on their AI investments. For security and cyber teams, there’s a lot of potential for AI to automate tedious activities in a security operations centre that can then free up time for security pros to focus on bigger projects, such as planning for a post-quantum world.

The future of cybersecurity will demand a balance between proactive planning and practical implementation. Preparing for quantum computing’s eventual impact, leveraging AI to streamline operations, and adopting new standards like post-quantum encryption will be critical for staying ahead of emerging threats. By focusing on innovation that delivers real value, businesses can strengthen their defences and position themselves for long-term success in an ever-evolving security landscape. Now is the time to take these steps and prepare for what’s next.