Last updated at Fri, 02 May 2025 15:45:02 GMT

Cybersecurity has never stood still — but in 2025, it’s not just evolving. It’s transforming.

Cybersecurity has entered a pivotal new phase. According to Gartner®, Top Trends in Cybersecurity for 2025, “Security and risk management (SRM) leaders must enable business value and double down on embedding organizational, personal and team resilience to prove security program effectiveness in 2025.”*

That’s not just a shift in tactics — it’s a mandate to rethink how security supports transformation, agility, and sustainability in a world that’s constantly changing. At Rapid7, we’re offering complimentary access to this Gartner research to help you explore what’s next and how to prepare.

Here are three trends that stand out for leaders aiming to build a more resilient, AI-ready security program in 2025.

AI Is Here to Stay — and It’s Tactical Now

Security teams are moving beyond the fascination phase with GenAI. Now, it’s about real use cases with measurable benefits. Gartner states:

“SRM leaders are learning from AI transformation pilots and refining their processes based on initial success in taking a more tactical approach to AI integration.”*

Rather than chasing sweeping AI promises, forward-looking teams are prioritizing specific, achievable objectives. This approach is helping reduce risk and maintain credibility by “delivering more incremental security benefits than myopically striving for hype-driven seismic change.”*

From documentation assistance to incident triage and threat analysis, AI is no longer an experiment — it’s becoming a reliable tool for making overburdened teams more effective.

Resilience Is the New North Star

According to Gartner, we are seeing increasing recognition that a “zero-tolerance for failure” mindset has reached its peak in achieving sustainable risk buy-down and only increases the risk of security team burnout. At Rapid7, we see that In their place is a rising focus on resilience — not just in infrastructure, but in people, processes, and culture. It’s a hard pivot for many security programs built on prevention and perimeter defense, but it’s overdue.

From board-level priorities to frontline operations, security is now recognized as a business enabler. And enabling business requires adaptability. That means investing in burnout prevention, embedding resilience in security culture, and measuring success not just by how few incidents occur, but how effectively teams recover and evolve from them​.

Gartner predicts that by 2027, CISOs investing in cybersecurity-specific personal resilience programming will see 50% less burnout-related attrition than peers who don’t​.

That’s not just a wellness metric. It’s a business continuity strategy.

Less Tool Sprawl, More Platform Power

Most security teams today are managing dozens of tools. But consolidation without strategy is risky. Gartner notes that “SRM leaders are shifting focus to tool optimization rather than vendor consolidation,” urging leaders to strike a balance between integration and effectiveness.

“Organizations are seeking to strike the right balance between consolidation of commodity capabilities and purchase of separate, differentiated products to address niche requirements,”* Gartner explains. The message is clear: platform thinking matters — but only when it enhances outcomes, not complexity.

That’s why at Rapid7, we’ve built the Command platform to deliver comprehensive visibility and control, integrating detection, response, and exposure management into a unified experience backed by expert services.

The Takeaway: Secure Transformation Starts With Trust

If there’s one unifying message in Top Trends in Cybersecurity for 2025, it’s this: transformation doesn’t have to come at the cost of control. AI doesn’t have to erode trust. Automation doesn’t have to sideline expertise. And resilience isn’t a soft goal — it’s the foundation of sustainable security.

By anchoring your program in clarity, resilience, and targeted innovation, you can move faster — and more confidently — than ever before.

Ready to see what’s ahead?

Access this complimentary Gartner research to explore trends shaping security in 2025 — and how to make them work for your team.


Gartner Top Trends in Cybersecurity for 2025, Richard Addiscott, et al., 12 December 2024 GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.