Netwrix, a leading provider of identity and data security solutions, has released new findings from its 2025 Cybersecurity Trends Report, including:
- More than one in three organizations (37%) said AI-driven attacks forced them to adjust their security approach over the past year. The results reflect the growing impact of AI on both the speed and sophistication of today’s threats, as well as the tools organizations are using to counter them.
- AI is a new attack surface: 30 percent say their business uses AI and must now protect it like any other critical system.
- Compliance is catching up: 29 percent report auditors now require proof of data security and privacy in AI-based systems.
- AI is strengthening defenses: 28 percent say cybersecurity AI tools improved detection and response.
- Early efficiency gains: 20 percent have offloaded some IT/security workloads to AI.
- Priority for professionals: Nearly one-third (29%) of respondents say adopting AI-based solutions would be among their top three actions to strengthen cybersecurity.
- Adoption momentum builds: Implementing AI-based tools as a top-five IT priority has surged 189 percent in two years, from nine percent in 2023 to 26 percent in 2025.
“Microsoft reported that identity-based threats surged by 32 percent in the first half of 2025, with over 97 percent of those attacks relying on password compromise,” said Grady Summers, CEO of Netwrix. “AI is amplifying the speed, scale, and sophistication of such attacks, but it’s also helping defenders neutralize threats faster than ever before.”
“The long-standing challenge of understaffed security teams has become even more pressing as AI increases the efficiency and volume of cyberattacks,” said Jeff Warren, Chief Product Officer at Netwrix. “At the same time, AI can also help close the talent gap.”
