Future-Proofing Cyber Risk Management: Top Cyber GRC Trends Shaping 2025

Introduction

I enjoy cliches not just because they’re a little bit homespun, but also because they’re true. One of my favorites is “risk never sleeps.” If it’s cybersecurity risk, not only does it not sleep, it multiplies and accelerates instead of sleeping!

Already this year, we’ve seen a 75 percent increase in cyberattacks across the world and the average cost of a data breach up to an all-time high of USD 4.5 million. Organizations are under tremendous pressure to protect their data and systems from breaches and cyber-attacks, all while keeping pace with new and evolving cyber regulations. AI is a powerful new weapon in the fight against hacks – but malicious actors are also using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to launch sophisticated and stealthy attacks. And the vast third-party ecosystem that most modern organizations work within leaves businesses exposed to threats arising from vulnerabilities within partner or vendor organizations.

As we wrap up 2024 and enter a brand-new year, it is important to understand the key trends shaping Cyber GRC in 2025. But before that, here is a quick dive into the top developments that shaped this year.

2024, A Year in Review

2024 was marked by escalating geopolitical tensions, humanitarian crises, and political instability on one hand and increasing adoption and use of AI on the other. Consequently, cyber security regulatory focus has been ensuring cyber resilience as well as regulating AI development and innovation.

In May 2024, the US government announced that several aspects of the US National Cybersecurity Strategy were already in action. This strategy includes creating cybersecurity exercises to help critical infrastructure operators prepare for attacks by hostile countries and bad actors. It also includes proposed reforms to the government’s procurement processes for Internet of Things devices to ensure they are secure by design.

And in October 2024, the EU’s Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive 2 came into effect with the objective of strengthening cybersecurity around critical infrastructure like energy systems, healthcare networks and transportation services. Meanwhile, Singapore rolled out the Operational Technology Cybersecurity Masterplan 2024 to strengthen cybersecurity measures around operational technology that powers public-facing digital equipment such as traffic light controllers, fuel station pumps, and energy grid control systems.

On the AI front, the European Union was the first to enact a law to regulate AI development with the Artificial Intelligence Act in August 2024. It aims to encourage responsible AI development and deployment in the region. Other nations are also working on their AI regulations and this trend will continue for the foreseeable future. There was also an increased focus on managing third-party risks with 44 percent of businesses experiencing third-party data breaches in the last year. 2024 also saw organizations increasing cyber security investments and deploying automated continuous GRC tools to ensure error-free compliance in an increasingly fraught cyber risk environment.

Top Cyber GRC Trends for 2025

So what will 2025 look like?

All of the trends above point to a cyber risk landscape that’s likely to become more sophisticated and interconnected. In this environment, CISOs will need to be equipped with the key trends that will impact Cyber GRC in the next year to build cyber resilience and ensure robust cyber risk management strategies.

AI Comes of Age - AI continued to drive innovation, productivity, as well as risks throughout 2024. Organizations are accelerating the adoption of Gen AI to transform operations, improve productivity, and shape cyber risk management strategies by leveraging AI’s ability to analyze huge volumes of data. 65 percent of companies are already using generative AI regularly, while 18 percent have it fully integrated across their organization, marking a 5-point increase in just 6 months. But malicious actors also have equal access to the technology, using it to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks across industries. Cyber teams have to relook at their strategies to manage these risks. Proper AI security measures coupled with effective AI-driven cybersecurity policies will be critical as more companies adopt the technology in the future.

Regulatory Focus on Cyber Resilience– Regulatory action has increased significantly, to keep pace with the rapidly escalating risk landscape. Over 170 new cybersecurity regulations were drafted across 150 countries in just the last two years. And most key regulations - US SEC’s cybersecurity rules, the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), and the UK’s proposed Cyber Security and Resilience Bill - focus on proactive measures for identifying, managing, mitigating and reporting cybersecurity risks. The spotlight now is on cyber resilience and organizational ability to resume business as usual after a cyber incident. Organizations have to reshape their cybersecurity and compliance strategies to align with evolving regulations and address the need for cyber resilience.

The Changing Role of the CISO– Cyber risks are significant business risks. A cyber incident can disrupt business, expose confidential customer and operational data, and cause severe damage to reputation and customer trust in the brand. As a result, cyber security is now a top priority leadership concern, and the modern CISO now has a seat in the boardroom. CISOs are no longer only concerned with the technical and operational management of cybersecurity, and have a larger, more strategic role to play in aligning cyber strategy with business objectives.

Third-Party Risk – Today, almost all organizations work within a complex ecosystem of partners and vendors. A single vulnerability in a vendor’s infrastructure can result in major data breaches, non-compliance risks, and financial losses. In 2024, two major data breaches at American Express and Fidelity Investments resulted from attacks on third-party systems. Organizations are now focussing on continuous monitoring of third-party vendors and demanding strict adherence to security standards and encryption protocols across the vendor ecosystem. Robust incident response strategies and regular audits and testing of third-party systems will be a key priority for CISOs in 2025, and regulations will increasingly include third-party risk management as well. 

Continuous Risk and Control Monitoring - Cyber risks are continuously evolving, necessitating round-the-clock monitoring and assessment. Security teams need continuous risk monitoring tools to detect and address threats in real-time. Continuous monitoring delivers vital insights into network, application, and cloud activity. Automated data collection processes and AI-driven continuous monitoring mechanisms can help security teams quickly identify threats.

Stay Ahead with MetricStream Cyber GRC

The cyber risk landscape is not showing any signs of de-escalation, and organizations need to know the key trends impacting cyber risk management to anticipate and manage risks effectively. We have identified the top 10 cyber risk trends to watch out and prepare for in 2025.

Our eBook also offers insights on how MetricStream CyberGRC can safeguard your business. Built as an interconnected, intuitive, and intelligent GRC product set, CyberGRC empowers enterprises to connect cyber risk data from across the enterprise, including third and fourth-party vendors, and then use the actionable business intelligence to make data-driven decisions to build cyber resilience.

With MetricStream CyberGRC, you can:

• Protect cloud assets with automated continuous monitoring of controls
• Document, investigate, and resolve IT compliance and control issues in a systematic, automated manner with AI-powered intelligent issue and remediation
• Quantify cyber risks in monetary terms to assess cyber risks more accurately, communicate the risk more effectively, and make better-informed cyber investment decisions
• Strengthen visibility into the overall IT compliance profile with intuitive dashboards and real-time reports 
• Harmonize controls across multiple IT regulations and frameworks, improving compliance and saving effort and costs

See how MetricStream CyberGRC can help you stay ahead of these trends – and identify new risks as they emerge. Request your personalized demo today!