2025 data security concerns: cloud vulnerabilities and AI threats worry UK IT Pros most

GetApp’s data security report looks ahead to some of the biggest threats facing firms in 2025. In this report, we review the last 12 months to see how cyberattacks are evolving.

Amid fears of an upsurge in phishing attacks enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI), IT professionals in the U.K. have major concerns about their cloud security for the next 12 months. These trends are among the core findings of GetApp’s 2024 Data Security Survey, which studied the answers of 4,000 participants from 11 countries, of which 350 were from the U.K.*

The increasing need for cloud data security and worries around higher volumes of stronger, faster, AI-boosted attacks on critical data infrastructure are leading to growing concerns. As a result, data governance and adaptation are the focus of many companies to counteract these risks. It’s critical to prepare for such threats now, as our research suggests U.K. businesses still face a significant risk of a data breach and vulnerability to attacks such as phishing and ransomware. In this article, we examine the dangers identified in our findings and also highlight four key tips to improve company security ahead of 2025.

Cloud vulnerabilities darken the data security outlook for 2025

Monitoring threat intelligence-related issues isn’t always easy as newer forms of attack emerge. However, companies appear to prioritise a few key areas over others. 

In our data, the biggest threat for 2025 identified by U.K. IT professionals is vulnerabilities in cloud storage. This was followed by AI-enhanced attacks generally, suggesting these are a growing issue for businesses.

There are good reasons to remain vigilant about cloud data. Small businesses often use this form of data management to provide scalable storage options for essential data. Cloud service providers let companies save time and money by eliminating the need to secure the necessary hardware and security infrastructure typically required to manage data in-house. Instead, the cloud provider’s data centre operates the service, and their security protocols protect information.  However, while cloud security is robust, it still fails occasionally and is increasingly becoming a favourite target of cybercriminals.

Last year, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warned that cyberattackers are shifting to targeting cloud infrastructure specifically rather than company on-premise software. These attacks attempt to access cloud services directly via stolen credentials for service accounts (accounts used to manage applications and services that usually have greater access over systems) and exploit inactive user accounts that remain on the system. Once access is gained, threat actors can take control of systems and/or steal data. [1]

Concerns are high about AI-enhanced attacks boosting existing threats

AI also provides a new and urgent risk to data security. Newer attacks created by AI are one issue. However, it is AI’s capacity to enhance existing forms of attack that generates the most concern amongst our survey sample in the U.K.

New threats such as malware enhanced by AI and deepfake attacks are still seen as a major danger in the U.K., yet not quite as much as they are regarded on average amongst our entire global sample. In fact, AI’s ability to boost phishing attacks generates the most concern in the U.K.

Generative AI tools can assist cybercriminals in creating more realistic-seeming phishing messages and significantly speed up their rate and volume.  Phishing attacks in their older more conventional forms already use the tactic of sending a high volume of messages targeting a broad range of potential victims to increase the chances of success. Now that cybercriminals are gaining the ability to speed up that process and deploy more convincing content, it is easy to see why this is a top worry for U.K. IT professionals going into 2025, with 65% highlighting it as a major concern.

Ransomware and phishing still pose big risks to UK businesses

Looking at more conventional cases of cyberattacks, we observed signs that ransomware and phishing are still major problems for organisations. This is despite a fall in the volume of some types of attacks on U.K. businesses.

In total, 86% of our respondents report that they or another member of staff in their company has received a phishing email at work in the last 12 months.

We also observed that a very high number (69%) clicked or knew a colleague who clicked on a malicious phishing link in their company. This is especially concerning as it could allow a threat actor to steal user credentials and use them to commit a data breach.

Ransomware appears less common but still affected 35% of our sample over the past 12 months.  

Whilst a much lower number of ransom attacks appear to succeed than phishing, they can still cause major harm when successful. In total, 39% of those affected by these incidents lost the data compromised by cyber criminals, whether they paid the ransom or not.

Based on our analysis, 25% could pay the ransom demanded to recover the affected data. Notably, however, even more (33%) were able to decrypt the data or remove the malicious program without paying any money, demonstrating the value of having strong ransomware protection processes in place before an attack occurs.

UK businesses had fewer data breaches, but the risk of one is still high 

The U.K. seems to be doing slightly better compared to the global average for data breaches. Whilst over half (58%) of U.K. respondents experienced data breaches this was several points lower than the 62% recorded globally.

This number is still high however, and there are many causes for this rate staying above 50%. The top cause overall in our findings is software vulnerabilities, although malware is still a major issue affecting four in ten breaches in the U.K.

4 cybersecurity measures to shore up data security into 2025

Based on the findings above, U.K. firms are faring a little better than international peers in terms of security, although more than half (58%) still suffer data breaches. This comes at a time when AI and cloud security worries are high, as more targeted and frequent attacks could drive up this rate in the coming year. To help keep things secure, we’ve leveraged our data to highlight four important tips for firms to promote security and stability in 2025.

Don’t skimp on security fundamentals

It’s vital to ensure basic network security protections are covered before worrying about more advanced protection considerations. For example, the three most used security tools in our sample data are firewalls, antivirus, and data backup software, which will surprise very few people. 

While these tools are well-established and fairly encompassing, it is important to use security software with features that make it more adept at dealing with upcoming threats. This may mean using a program with robust malware detection tools. It should also update its software frequently to address the threat of AI-powered malware and other emerging issues with cloud security more directly.

Check for gaps in your data security

With AI attacks looking to represent a major challenge in the coming months, it’s important to ensure that data security protocols are safely in place and network monitoring is robust. As our findings show, 31% of data breaches occurred due to an improperly configured database or system errors. This makes regular checks of system integrity a priority.   

The need to review overall data security also represented the biggest priority for over half (53%) globally, although this was even higher in the U.K. at 61%. This makes sense, especially in situations where vulnerabilities can become wider due to the existence of AI-generated cyberthreats.

It also goes without saying that data security professionals should implement a decent level of encryption. While most forms of artificial intelligence, such as deep learning, don’t have the capacity to break encryption, AI-powered attacks can make stolen data a bigger risk in the first place. [6] Using encryption methods is a small step to preventing data from being misused if the worst happens.

Prioritise threat simulation

Cybersecurity protection tools offer a good level of defence against data thieves and cyberattackers. However, these tools aren’t foolproof, and sometimes threats slip through the cracks. Therefore, it is vital to create a level of preparedness within an organization to spot attacks.

Our data showed that 67% of U.K. workers belong to businesses that simulate phishing attacks, below the global average of 70%. These exercises can enhance email security by promoting awareness of the signs of social engineering attacks before they can do any damage. This practice can also identify the extent to which extra cybersecurity awareness training should be conducted across an enterprise.

Our data shows positive feedback on phishing awareness training. For instance, in GetApp U.K.’s 2023 Phishing Attacks survey, we found that 88% of senior managers who implemented phishing awareness training said they’d observed a decline in successful attacks as a result. This is an area where businesses can especially prioritise now to prepare for the risks of stronger phishing attempts in the coming months.

Strengthen defences with multi-factor authentication 

Multi-factor authentication can be a game-changer in preventing an attack. It multiplies the opportunities to thwart a potential incident and prevent a data breach or takeover of a system by a hacker. Therefore, it was a little surprising to note that only 39% of IT and data professionals surveyed said that their companies use MFA for all applications, compared with a global average of 44%. U.K. businesses are potentially missing out on the benefits associated with this layer of security, which could increase vulnerabilities to attacks.

MFA offers a solution U.K. businesses can use now to try and steal a march on possible attempts to compromise their systems. Using a system that employees find most comfortable could be a good way to enforce multi-step protection practices more smoothly.  Interestingly, U.K. respondents appear to prefer MFA options that authenticate access via a passcode, received on a mobile device, by email, or found on a dedicated authentication app. Biometrics comparatively appear to be considerably less popular. 

These findings may have been compounded by worries about the risks of AI breaking the defence of biometrics. In GetApp’s 2024 Executive Cybersecurity survey, for example, we observed high fears in the U.K. about the potential for biometrics to be compromised by AI-generated fraud.

2025: A crucial year for cybersecurity

Next year is likely to evolve similarly to this year, with AI attacks increasing and affecting many existing forms of data breach incidents. It is important to make preparations now to work towards better protection that adjusts around these developing issues. New forms of cybersecurity risk, such as AI, are gradually becoming better known, and this gives companies some tools to prepare.

As we’ve seen, AI often enhances familiar forms of attack. However, AI can also be a mighty ally as well as a foe. In our second report, we focus in more depth on ways companies can use artificial intelligence tools to enhance their security stack and fight back against the new realities.