The year 2025 marks a turning point for cybersecurity. The sophistication of threats, combined with the complexity of corporate infrastructures, has created a scenario where risk has ceased to be occasional and has become constant. We no longer talk about isolated incidents, but about persistent and adaptive campaigns that exploit every possible vulnerability, from highly targeted social engineering (spear phishing), through supply chain attacks, to advanced persistent threats (APT) and ransomware capable of spreading almost invisibly.
The traditional response, based on defenses and reactive actions after the occurrence, is outdated. Companies need to shift to an approach supported by continuous engagement intelligence, capable of identifying malicious activities in real-time and based on concrete evidence.
Within this context, there are five core challenges that determine the success or failure of a security operation in 2025, which are:
1 – The overload of irrelevant alerts:The volume of security data generated by tools like SIEMs, EDRs, and firewalls is massive. According to a report by Gartner, a research and consulting company, 75% of these alerts are false positives or irrelevant. The problem is not just analyst fatigue, but the real risk that a critical incident gets lost in the noise.
A company that integrates a continuous commitment system may find that about 80% of its SIEM alerts do not represent a real threat. By filtering and prioritizing relevant events, it is possible to reduce the average response time by up to half. This shows that the battle is not for more data, but for more qualified data.
2 – The lack of real visibility:Digital transformation has dissolved the concept of perimeter. Today, the attack surface includes mobile devices, cloud environments, remote endpoints, and hybrid networks. Traditional tools, designed to monitor fixed borders, fail to detect lateral movements, beaconing, or discreet connections with command and control servers.
A study by the Ponemon Institute, an independent research institute, found that 56% of data breaches are caused by failures in visibility and rapid response capability. The solution is to continuously monitor all network communications, regardless of origin or destination, allowing the identification of anomalous behaviors before they become critical incidents.
3 – The shortage of qualified professionals:The global cybersecurity specialist deficit exceeds 3.5 million, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, a research company specializing in cybersecurity. This bottleneck means that many companies operate with small, overburdened teams, increasing the risk of errors and delays.
By automating the detection and prioritization of real threats, it is possible to alleviate this pressure. Organizations that adopted continuous commitment intelligence can report reductions of up to 60% in response time, freeing human resources to act more strategically.
4 – Tools that do not communicate with each other:In their effort to protect themselves, companies accumulate various solutions: SIEM, EDR, DLP, antivirus, firewalls, and NDR, but without integration, these tools create data silos that hinder event correlation and delay decisions.
The key lies in platforms capable of integrating natively with existing ecosystems such as Splunk, QRadar, Elastic, Palo Alto, Fortinet, Checkpoint, and SOARs. Thus, security ceases to be a disjointed mosaic and begins to operate as a unified organism, with a continuous flow of information and shared context.
5 – The reactive incident response:Perhaps the most critical challenge is the reactive stance. I understand that in many companies, the average time to detect a critical threat still exceeds 200 days. This delay is almost an invitation for the attacker to maximize the exploited infrastructure.
With continuous commitment intelligence, this window can be reduced to less than five minutes. The difference is not just technical, it's strategic. An almost immediate detection not only reduces damage but also allows for containing the attack before it causes legal, financial, and reputational repercussions.
What effective cybersecurity requires in 2025
Overcoming these challenges requires more than technology; it requires a change in mindset. It is necessary to adopt a defense model that eliminates noise, prioritizes truly relevant events, and discards false positives; ensures full visibility regardless of where assets and users are located; optimizes human resources by automating processes and freeing up specialists for strategic tasks; unifies the security ecosystem by integrating tools for coordinated response; and maintains constant vigilance, reducing the exposure window from months to minutes.
In 2025, the ability to detect, understand, and act swiftly in the face of a threat is not a competitive advantage; it is a prerequisite for survival. Companies that understand this now will not only be protected against the current scenario but also prepared for what is to come.
Wilson PiedadeHe is the Chief Operating Business of Oakmont Group, focused on developing new business models and new partnerships to seek a competitive advantage and better results.
