By 2025, AI-powered cyberattacks will be more complex

DNVN - By 2025, threat actors will become increasingly complex and hackers will apply AI (artificial intelligence) technology to attack networks.

Fortinet has just released the 2025 Cyberthreat Predictions Report, providing important information about the overall landscape of cybersecurity risks in the coming time.

In addition to classic tactics that have been around for decades, the report highlights shifts toward more ambitious, sophisticated, and destructive attack strategies. Cyber-attack service groups are becoming increasingly specialized, with attackers adopting tactics that combine physical and digital threats to carry out highly targeted attacks with greater impact.

Emergence of attack chain expertise: In recent years, cybercriminals have focused more on the reconnaissance and weaponization phases of the attack chain. As a result, threat actors can execute targeted attacks more quickly and accurately.

Hackers will carry out highly targeted attacks with more impact with AI technology.

Fortinet has previously observed many “Attack as a Service” (CaaS) vendors acting as the hub of all transactions—providing buyers with everything they need to execute an attack, from phishing kits to payloads. However, Fortinet suspects that service providers will increasingly specialize, with many focusing on providing services for just one segment of the attack chain.

Although cloud computing is not new, it is increasingly attracting the attention of cybercriminals. Since most organizations use multiple cloud service providers, it is not surprising that more and more vulnerabilities related to this platform are being exploited by attackers.

Automated hacking tools on the dark web: A large number of methods and related attack code are now available on the CaaS marketplace, such as phishing kits, Ransomware-as-a-Service, DDoS-as-a-Service, and more. The fact that some cybercriminal groups are relying on AI to enhance their CaaS services makes us concerned that this trend will grow. Fortinet predicts that attackers will use automated output from LLM large language models to enhance CaaS services and develop markets, such as social media reconnaissance and automating that information into complete phishing toolkits.

Real-life threats are becoming more prevalent in attack scenarios: Cybercriminals are continually evolving their strategies, with attacks becoming more aggressive and destructive. Fortinet predicts they will expand their strategies to combine cyberattacks with real-life physical threats. In some cases, cybercriminal groups are directly threatening senior leaders and employees of organizations.

Fortinet predicts this will become more common in attack scenarios. Transnational crime such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, smuggling, etc. may also become a common factor in many attack scenarios as cybercriminal groups and transnational criminal organizations cooperate.

Develop common principles for collective defense: As attackers continue to evolve their strategies, the cybersecurity community as a whole can do the same in response. Pursuing global cooperation, building public-private partnerships, and developing common principles for jointly combating threats are all important ways to improve our collective defense and resilience to attacks.

The value of industry-wide efforts and public-private partnerships is undeniable, and Fortinet predicts that the number of organizations participating in these collaborations will increase in the coming years. Additionally, organizations need to recognize that cybersecurity is everyone’s business, not just the responsibility of security and IT teams. For example, increasing security awareness and training across the enterprise is a critical part of risk management efforts. And finally, every organization has a responsibility to promote and comply with cybersecurity requirements, from governments to vendors and manufacturers of security products.

“Fortinet’s 2025 threat predictions highlight the critical role AI will play in shaping the future of cybersecurity,” said Nguyen Gia Duc, Country Manager, Fortinet Vietnam. “While hackers are leveraging AI to enhance their attacks, Fortinet has been leading the effort to apply AI to enhance defenses, automate threat detection, and reduce the operational burden on security teams. Our AI-powered cybersecurity platform helps customers stay ahead of evolving threats, optimize their security strategies, and enhance resilience in an increasingly complex digital landscape.”

Phan Minh

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/chuyen-doi-so/an-ninh-mang/nam-2025-cac-cuoc-tan-cong-mang-do-ai-ho-tro-se-dien-ra-phuc-tap/20241221124456290