Data protection is at the heart of modern cybersecurity strategies, driven by technological advancements, shifting business needs, and the growing complexity of cyberthreats. As organizations generate and store more data than ever before, several key trends are shaping how they approach cybersecurity and data management. From the rise of AI-driven defenses to the growing importance of hybrid cloud models, these developments are changing the way companies protect their data. This article explores the most critical predictions and strategies that will define the next phase of data security.
Five trends that will impact data protection
New threats and technological breakthroughs are informing the future of data protection. Five major trends demonstrate how businesses are rethinking their approach to data management and security:
1. The intersection of cybersecurity and AI
Artificial intelligence is transforming both sides of the cybersecurity battle. Attackers are using AI to automate and enhance their tactics, while defenders are leveraging AI to detect and counter threats more efficiently.
On the offensive side, AI allows cybercriminals to develop more sophisticated social engineering attacks, such as highly personalized email phishing. AI also enables attackers to survey a target’s technology landscape, identify weak points and devise multi-pronged attack strategies. On the defensive side, organizations are employing AI to detect anomalies and identify deviations from normal user or system behavior. This allows defenders to spot potential threats before they escalate into breaches.
While machine learning has long been used to model baseline behaviors, modern AI advances have significantly enhanced detection capabilities. These developments make AI a core component of cybersecurity strategies, with companies increasingly relying on AI to detect, predict, and mitigate risks.
2. Prioritization of secured environments
Ransomware attacks are no longer isolated incidents — they are ongoing, persistent threats. As a result, organizations will be prioritizing multi-layered security strategies that go beyond basic backup and recovery. Modern solutions with sophisticated capabilities will be sought after, such anomaly detection that identifies unusual activity during the backup process and data exfiltration which helps to ensure that if attackers access sensitive information, it remains unusable.
3. Changes in organizational attitudes
The organizational mindset around cyberattacks will continue to shift from “if” to “when” — and to “how often” attacks will occur. Cyber resiliency is no longer just an IT concern. Instead, it will requre a top-down, company-wide commitment to security, with executive leaders and frontline staff all playing a role in reducing risk.
4. Mobile strategies
As mobile devices become integral to daily operations, they also introduce new vulnerabilities. The rise of remote work has further expanded the attack surface, as employees connect to corporate resources using personal and unmanaged devices. In response, organizations will need to adopt multi-platform mobile strategies to secure operations across a range of devices and environments.
A comprehensive mobile strategy should involve:
- Secure usage policies for personal and corporate-issued devices
- Network segmentation to separate home and work environments, preventing attackers from moving laterally across networks
- Dedicated, secure network devices for remote employees
5. Employee training
Human error remains a leading cause of security breaches. Attackers target employees with phishing emails, social engineering tactics and other forms of manipulation. As such, employee training has become a vital part of any data protection strategy.
Effective training programs will focus on:
- Recognizing phishing attempts and suspicious activity
- Red team exercises to simulate real-world attacks and identify areas for improvement
- Clear reporting mechanisms so employees know how to report suspicious emails or behavior
Developing distraction ransomware protection strategies
Modern ransomware attacks have evolved far beyond the single, devastating strike. Today’s bad actors infiltrate multiple entry points simultaneously. Like a magician’s sleight of hand, while one attack draws attention, a secondary threat – often referred to as sleeper ransomware – remains dormant until activated later. Protecting against such tactics requires a multi-layered strategy.
1. Check what methods attackers are using to get in
Ransomware attacks typically exploit known vulnerabilities to gain entry. It’s critical to stay informed about the varying methods attackers use to infiltrate systems and plant malware. Historical trends show that successful strategies are often repeated. Knowing what’s currently effective for bad actors allows organizations to shore up defenses before an attack occurs.
2. Test restorations
A strong backup and recovery strategy isn’t complete without frequent test restorations. Periodic testing ensures that backups are not only functioning, but also capturing all the data that’s vital to your organization.
Classifying data based on its importance – mission-critical or less-sensitive file system data – helps tailor retention policies and backup procedures. Whether leveraging the cloud or replicating to a secondary site, testing verifies that your recovery plan works when it’s needed most.
3. Use AI for anomaly detection
Recent trends reveal that bad actors are targeting backups by turning off specific backup settings or altering configurations, rather than deleting data outright. This manipulation results in backups that appear successful on the surface but fail to secure all necessary data. These tactics often remain undetected until it’s too late, with attackers lying in wait until backups expire or become unusable.
AI-driven anomaly detection can counter these tactics by identifying irregularities in how data is stored, accessed and altered. For instance, AI systems can flag unexpected reductions in backup sizes, which might indicate deselected or compromised data. By identifying such anomalies early, organizations can mitigate potential threats before they escalate.
4. Implement a zero trust model
Zero trust security operates on a straightforward premise: trust no one, verify everything. In a zero trust framework, no user, device, or application is trusted by default. Instead, access to resources is granted only after thorough authentication and verification.
Key components of a zero trust model:
- Granular access controls – Users only have access to the specific data and systems they need
- Multi-factor authentication – Requiring multiple forms of verification so only verified users gain access
- Data governance – Monitors who accesses data, what changes are made and when
Attackers often target directory services to gain elevated privileges. To counter this, organizations should segment access points using multiple directory services or external providers. This segmentation increases complexity and reduces the likelihood of successful attacks.
The future of the cloud in data protection
The initial migration to the cloud was fueled by promises of cost savings and flexibility, but many organizations are realizing that the cloud isn’t a perfect fit for every workload. Companies are now repatriating some data and applications back on-premises, leading to a more hybrid cloud model.
Cloud storage and usage costs can grow unpredictably, especially as data volumes increase. Businesses are recognizing that certain workloads may be cheaper to maintain on-premises. Additionally, with the rise of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), many companies prefer to keep sensitive AI training data on-premises to maintain privacy and control.
Data immutability
Data immutability means that once data is written, it cannot be altered or deleted until a predefined retention period ends. This prevents attackers – or even rogue employees – from tampering with backups.
Not all immutability solutions are truly immutable. Some solutions claim to offer immutability but provide administrative overrides or special keys that allow data to be altered. If attackers gain access to those administrative controls, they can still delete immutable backups. For true immutability, no user should have the power to change data once it’s locked.
Protect all your systems, applications and data.
Encryption
Encryption is the next layer of defense. While immutability protects data from being changed, encryption ensures it can’t be read. Data should be encrypted at rest, in transit and in the cloud. Even if data is immutable, if it’s stored unencrypted, attackers who access it can still read and use it. Encryption ensures that stolen data remains unusable.
Today, 256-bit encryption is the standard for data protection. However, as quantum computing advances, current encryption standards will not be enough anymore. Organizations are beginning to explore post-quantum encryption methods to future-proof their data.
Conclusion
Several emerging trends will be the prime movers for data protection next year.
- Ransomware will continue to evolve, with multi-vector attacks becoming more common. Organizations will need to adopt solutions that monitor backups for anomalies to prevent small issues from becoming full-scale breaches.
- Attackers will continue to target human error as a primary entry point. Companies will need to reinforce security training, implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) and promote a zero trust model where every access request is verified.
- Flexibility in data protection platforms will become a competitive differentiator. Businesses don’t want to feel locked into a specific platform and are seeking backup vendors that enable them to back up on one platform and restore to another.
Together, these trends point to a future where data protection is not just about recovery after an attack, but rather about maintaining continuous security and control over their environment at all times.
