Siobhan Gorman, partner at global advisory firm Brunswick Group.
Business leaders should prepare themselves for a tectonic shift in the cyber security space as volatile geopolitical conditions drive up state-sponsored cyber attacks and espionage.
This is according to Siobhan Gorman, partner at global advisory firm Brunswick Group, who adds that economic fallout from geopolitical tension is just the beginning of the global ramifications.
Gorman is scheduled to deliver a keynote presentation at the 20th annual ITWeb Security Summit 2025 on 28 May at the CTICC in Cape Town.
She says this discord creates precisely the kind of condition in which criminals thrive. “Criminals like chaos… and right now, there is a great deal of uncertainty across markets. We are likely to see more activity in cyber security as threat actors exploit fissures to make money. We expect to see a rise in hybrid attacks, a mix of criminals, bad actors and state sponsors who commit crime as a means to raise money.”
Gorman adds the year ahead will be marked by an increase in ransomware and third-party exploitation as a knock-on impact.
The reality facing business leaders is that the attack surface area has expanded, and it’s not just governments or political organisations at risk, it’s any organisation that deals with data and operates in a supply chain, Gorman adds.
“I think you will see a broader uptick in people looking to spy on whoever they perceive their enemies to be; but also, in some cases, on friends… this is because it is now difficult to identity friends from foes.
“Agencies are made up of people, so you take the leadership out of the equation and suddenly people are worried and confused, asking, ‘Is my job going to be safe?’ They are distracted and that is a major opportunity for adversaries.”
Unsurprisingly, in 2025 there will be a significant increase in AI adoption, as businesses look to strengthen their grip on the emerging technology and defend against attackers.
Gorman adds that the more organisations generate data, the broader the attack surface becomes. “People are probably not thinking about all of the additional data risk that they are creating as they use all of these AI tools, including new versions of data and new IP.”
The concern among cyber security and market advisors like Brunswick is that this increase in data exposure – in some ways sensitive data – is something people just don’t think about, she notes.
“As AI gets better and there is more agentic AI, meaning the technology can go out and almost make decisions on your behalf, it warrants caution, because they have your proxy to do things on your behalf within certain limits. That’s going to make the bad guys more effective to some degree, but also the good guys more effective,” Gorman adds.
Looking ahead, the Brunswick executive believes there will be some degree of consolidation in the cyber security industry and more start-ups emerging as enterprise budgets are reduced because of economic difficulty.
“We could see a number of cyber security start-ups either embracing AI or building their business around AI, but then doing that mainly to be a strong, attractive target for acquisition.”
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