Cyber threats are set to escalate with AI intensifying the sophistication of every scam-phishing, pig butchering, OTP fraud, digital arrest-and new ones likely emerging.

Easy access to deepfake tools will make it easy to impersonate anyone in a virtual meeting. Voice cloning will become even harder to detect.

“As we approach 2025, the cybersecurity landscape is anticipated to face a series of evolving challenges and threats,” said Pratim Mukerjee, director of engineering at internet security company McAfee.

These threats include deepfakes, AI-driven phishing, malware attacks, rogue apps, crypto scams, fake invoice scams, customer service scams, live deepfake videos, and sophisticated supply chain attacks on apps and software.

“Not only can scammers use AI-powered tools to create deepfake videos, but they’re also now able to impersonate people during live video calls,” he said.

According to McAfee, only a third of people who participated in surveys in India felt confident they could distinguish between an AI-generated voice and an actual person.

For companies, cybersecurity isn’t just an IT problem-it’s a business and financial risk as the impact trickles down to the bottom line, said Swapna Bapat, MD and vice president, India and Saarc, Palo Alto Networks.

“We’re expecting a 3-5x jump in AI apps in the next year or two. Attackers are always looking for weaknesses, so they’re already targeting LLMs (Large Language Models-AI models that use machine learning to generate and understand human language) and the data used to train these models. This could lead to security breaches, legal and compliance issues,” she said.

Deepfake attacks will prove damaging to businesses.

“Smart criminals are going to use even better AI to create incredibly convincing deepfakes. We’ll also see a rise in audio deepfakes, with voice-cloning tech getting more and more advanced. In 2025, expect deepfakes to pop up more often, either on their own or as part of bigger, more complex attacks,” she said.

Companies that securely adopt AI will have an edge. Apart from that-be paranoid about security and hope for the best.