Cybersecurity’s Biggest Surprises of 2025: What This Year Teaches Us About 2026
2025 has been a wild ride in the cybersecurity world. With attackers evolving, AI exploding into mainstream use, and businesses scrambling to keep up, this year revealed more than a few cracks in the digital armor. Before we close out the year, it’s worth taking a look at the standout trends shaping the future of security.
These insights come from industry experts featured in an excellent piece by Security Magazine, which you can read at:
SecurityMagazine.com – 3 Top Cybersecurity Trends from 2025
1. AI Adoption Exploded — And So Did the Risks
Insights from Dana Simberkoff, Chief Risk, Privacy and Information Security Officer at AvePoint
2025 may be remembered as the year AI officially became part of the enterprise bloodstream. Organizations rushed to deploy AI tools and agent‑based systems — but many skipped vital security steps along the way.
AvePoint’s 2025 study found that more than 75% of organizations experienced AI-related security breaches. Even more surprising: over 90% claimed to have strong information management programs, but fewer than 31% actually implemented effective data classification.
The takeaway is clear: AI adoption outpaced AI preparedness. Companies rolled out powerful tools but didn’t reinforce their data governance foundation — leading to preventable breaches, workflow issues, and risky agent behavior.
For 2026, organizations are expected to invest more in automated data governance and proactive monitoring to keep AI systems aligned and controlled. If your business is beginning to explore or scale AI, TNT Nerds can help you deploy these systems safely, securely, and efficiently.
2. Ransomware Didn’t Break Businesses — It Exposed Them
Insights from Jeff Liford, Associate Director at Fenix24
If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that ransomware isn’t the true villain — it’s the spotlight. A glaring, unforgiving spotlight that reveals weak architectures, misconfigurations, technical debt, and assumptions that should’ve been addressed years ago.
Liford explains that attacks frequently escalated from a single foothold to a full compromise in under 72 hours — something that should be impossible in a properly segmented, well‑architected environment.
Some of the most common vulnerabilities included:
- Firewall admin panels exposed to the internet
- Lack of MFA and weak password hygiene
- VPNs allowing unmanaged devices
- Flat networks with unrestricted trust paths
- Critical CVEs left unpatched for months
- Shadow IT draining visibility and control
- Backups that were unmonitored, untested, or easily compromised
These aren’t elite hacker victories — they’re fundamental IT failures. And with AI‑assisted attacks accelerating rapidly, environments that struggle with basic hygiene will be hit hardest in 2026.
For small and mid‑sized businesses, partnering with a team that can modernize the core — not just deploy tools — is essential. TNT Nerds regularly helps organizations rebuild their foundations: segmentation, identity design, backup hardening, and secure architecture planning.
3. Secure Development Still Has a Long Road Ahead
Insights from Dipto Chakravarty, Chief Product Officer at Black Duck
Despite growing awareness and better tools, secure development remained one of the hardest challenges of 2025. AI made both offense and defense more sophisticated, and supply chain attacks continued to haunt software ecosystems.
Organizations struggled with lifecycle security for AI systems, defending models from data poisoning, and addressing prompt injection — issues unheard of just a few years ago.
Developers also faced increasing pressure from regulatory requirements across regions. Keeping up while building securely has become a genuine balancing act.
For businesses creating web platforms, internal software, or new AI‑driven tools, secure development practices are no longer optional. TNT Nerds builds all applications — websites, custom apps, automations, and AI‑integrated systems — with modern secure coding principles from day one.
Looking Back — and Looking Ahead
2025 forced organizations to confront uncomfortable truths: misconfigurations catch up, AI can be dangerous without guardrails, and development teams can’t keep using outdated approaches in a world of evolving threats.
The real question is: what are we going to fix before 2026 arrives?
If your business needs help strengthening cybersecurity, securing your software, modernizing infrastructure, or navigating AI safely, TNT Nerds is here to support you every step of the way.
For the original expert breakdown, check out the full article at Security Magazine:
