12 top cybersecurity challenges for organizations

With cyber threats increasing in both frequency and sophistication, organizations worldwide face mounting challenges that require immediate attention and strategic planning. 

Understanding these modern threats is crucial for protecting digital assets, maintaining business operations, and ensuring the safety of personal information. Here are 12 threats to keep an eye on.

AI-powered cyber attacks have emerged as one of the most significant threats facing organizations today. These sophisticated attacks use machine learning to automatically identify vulnerabilities, craft convincing phishing schemes, and adapt in real time to bypass traditional security measures.

The democratization of AI tools has also made advanced attack techniques accessible to less skilled criminals. Malicious actors now leverage AI to automate vulnerability identification and create more convincing social engineering campaigns.

This shift means that traditional security defenses, which were designed to detect human-operated attacks, are becoming increasingly inadequate against AI-driven threats.

Perhaps most concerning is the emergence of malicious chatbots like WormGPT and FraudGPT on dark web forums. These tools, which mimic popular generative AI platforms but lack ethical safeguards, are explicitly designed for criminal activities. They can generate remarkably persuasive business email compromise messages and other malicious content, effectively providing “crime as a service.”

Build your security team's generative AI skills.

Deepfake technology has evolved from a novelty to a powerful weapon for cybercriminals. The technology has become incredibly accessible, requiring just 20-30 seconds of audio for voice cloning. It can also create convincing video deepfakes in 45 minutes using freely available software.

The statistics are alarming. The deepfake market is estimated to be worth $1.9 billion within the next five years, with over 95% of these manipulated videos fueling scams, misinformation, and privacy violations. 

In fact, deepfake fraud cases surged 1,740% in North America between 2022 and 2023, with financial losses exceeding $200 million in the first quarter of 2025 alone. 

Corporate executives have become prime targets for deepfake impersonation attacks. The percentage of organizations experiencing deepfake attacks targeting executives climbed from 34% in 2023 to 41% in 2025. 

A notable example involved fraudsters attempting to impersonate Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna through AI-cloned voice calls that perfectly replicated his southern Italian accent. The call was only terminated when an executive asked a question that only the real CEO would know.

These attacks are no longer random. They represent surgical strikes that exploit trust networks within organizations, turning digital communication into a critical vulnerability.

Learn how to tell if you're talking to a deepfake.

Ransomware continues to dominate the threat landscape, but it has evolved significantly beyond simple encryption attacks. Ransomware attacks demonstrated an alarming 81% year-over-year increase from 2023 to 2024, with attackers now employing double and triple extortion tactics.

Modern ransomware groups threaten to publish sensitive data publicly unless payments are received, adding reputational damage to operational disruption. Some groups have moved beyond encryption entirely, focusing on data theft and extortion without the need to encrypt systems. This evolution makes recovery more complex and costly for affected organizations.

The financial impact is significant, especially for organizations with skills gaps. Organizations with insufficiently staffed security teams paid $550,000 more per breach on average.

Learn how ransomware works through hands-on analysis.

Critical infrastructure has become a primary target for cybercriminals and state-sponsored actors. Between January 2023 and January 2024, over 420 million cyberattacks on critical infrastructure were recorded worldwide. That’s 13 attacks every second.

The United States remains the most frequently targeted country, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, India, and Japan. The attacks predominantly originate from China, Russia, and Iran. Military facilities are the most targeted, closely followed by communication infrastructure.

Water facilities are another particularly vulnerable sector. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has highlighted vulnerabilities, including remote access points and outdated software, in operational technology systems used in water facilities. 

Learn how to use NIST's Cybersecurity Framework to improve your organization's critical infrastructure.

The proliferation of IoT devices has created an expansive attack surface for cybercriminals. With over 19.8 billion IoT devices already online and more on the way, the potential for attacks continues to grow.

Many IoT devices lack adequate security features, making them susceptible to exploitation. What’s more, many affordable products lack regular security updates, leaving critical vulnerabilities unaddressed for extended periods.

The result? More than 50% of IoT devices have critical vulnerabilities hackers can exploit right now. 

The BadBox 2.0 botnet, disclosed in July 2025, infected over 10 million smart TVs, digital projectors, in-car infotainment systems, and digital picture frames. This represents the largest known botnet of internet-connected TVs, used for click-fraud campaigns, account hijacking, residential proxy services, and distributed denial-of-service attacks.

Help your teams identify the attack surface of IoT devices in this hands-on lab.

Quantum computing presents both opportunities and existential threats to cybersecurity. While the technology promises revolutionary advances in scientific computing, it poses a significant danger to current encryption methods. 

A functioning quantum computer might decrypt RSA-2048 standard encryption in under two minutes, compared to the billion years a conventional computer would require.

The concept of "Q-Day" refers to the moment when powerful quantum computers could use algorithms to dismantle public key systems, rendering today's security measures obsolete. Despite this looming threat, only 5% of cybersecurity professionals consider quantum computing a top concern for the near future.

Experts warn that adversaries may already be collecting encrypted data to decrypt once quantum technology matures. This "harvest now, decrypt later" approach means that sensitive data encrypted today could be vulnerable to future quantum attacks.

Learn the basics of quantum computing.

Supply chain attacks have become increasingly sophisticated and damaging. Attackers are targeting suppliers, vendors, and third-party partners to gain access to larger organizations. These supply chain breaches are particularly difficult to detect and can be devastating when they succeed.

In fact, 54% of large organizations cite supply chain challenges as the biggest barrier to cyber resilience due to their complexity and lack of visibility into suppliers' security practices.

A recent example involved the s1ngularity supply chain attack. In August 2025, multiple malicious versions of the widely used Nx build system package were published to the npm registry. These versions contained malware designed to harvest sensitive developer assets, including cryptocurrency wallets, GitHub tokens, SSH keys, and more.

Boost your organization's supply chain security.

The cybersecurity industry faces a severe talent shortage that exacerbates all other challenges. There’s a global shortage of 4.8 million cybersecurity professionals, and the U.S. cybersecurity workforce is actually declining by 5% year over year. 

This shortage has real consequences: 87% of organizations experienced at least one breach last year, with more than half suffering financial losses exceeding $1 million.

The skills gap is particularly acute in emerging areas. Organizations are struggling to find qualified professionals, particularly those with expertise in cloud security, cyber threat intelligence, and malware analysis. The rapid pace of technological change means that even existing security teams often lack the skills needed to address modern threats effectively.

Learn more about the top tech skills gaps.

Social engineering attacks continue to exploit human psychology rather than technological vulnerabilities. 

The sophistication of modern phishing campaigns is remarkable. AI-driven phishing attacks have surged by 1,265%, making them increasingly difficult for even trained professionals to detect. These attacks now use large language models to craft personalized, contextually appropriate messages that bypass traditional spam filters.

They also use machine learning algorithms to analyze targets' social media profiles, communication patterns, and personal interests to create highly convincing messages.

Business email compromise attacks, for example, remain particularly devastating. These attacks often target specific individuals within organizations, using detailed reconnaissance to craft messages that appear to come from trusted sources within the company.

On top of that, bad actors are using GenAI to create fake pictures, audio tracks, and videos to trick employees into accepting and running malicious software. With AI-generated photos on the rise, this attack vector is one of the most dangerous ones.

Get familiar with AI-driven social engineering techniques.

As organizations increasingly rely on cloud infrastructure, cloud security challenges have become a critical concern. Inappropriate setup, poor access controls, and unprotected APIs create significant risks that hackers actively exploit.

Misconfiguration remains a leading cause of cloud security incidents. A notable example occurred when a massive misconfiguration at Mars Hydro, a grow-light manufacturer, exposed 2.7 billion IoT device records. This highlights the challenges organizations face in securing their connected device fleet.

Build your team's cloud security skills.

Despite growing reliance on AI for cybersecurity, only 37% of organizations have safeguards to assess AI tools before use. This gap between awareness of AI risks and unchecked adoption adds to the growing complexity of cyberspace.

Get AI security tips to protect your organization.

Network and application attacks have become more sophisticated, targeting the backbone of organizational IT infrastructures. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks saw a 25% rise in the first half of 2024, with carpet bomb attacks spreading traffic across multiple IP addresses.

Man-in-the-Middle attacks have also grown more complex with the increase in encrypted traffic. Attackers exploit flaws in SSL/TLS protocols or use stolen certificates to decrypt and manipulate communications. 

A vulnerability discovered in 2024, for instance, allowed hackers to execute MitM attacks to unlock and steal Tesla vehicles by setting up spoofed WiFi hotspots at charging stations.

Help your teams practice privilege escalation for network attacks.

These cybersecurity challenges require a comprehensive, proactive defense. Organizations must move beyond traditional perimeter security models to embrace zero-trust architectures, continuous monitoring, and AI-enhanced threat detection systems.

Key strategies include:

• Implement robust authentication protocols

• Conduct regular vulnerability assessments

• Develop comprehensive incident response plans

• Invest in advanced threat detection technologies

• Prioritize cybersecurity education and training

The challenges are significant, but with proper planning, investment in technology and talent, and a commitment to continuous improvement, organizations can build resilient defenses against today's sophisticated cyber threats. 

The key is recognizing that cybersecurity is not a destination but an ongoing journey that requires constant vigilance and adaptation. As cyber threats continue to evolve, staying informed about emerging risks and implementing adaptive security frameworks is critical. 

The cost of inaction is only rising—cybersecurity investment is essential for organizational survival in the digital age.

Learn how to close your organization's security skills gap—get the guide.