The digital security landscape is undergoing a transformative change, as revealed by CyberArk's recent report "2025 Identity Security Landscape Report." The combination of artificial intelligence (AI), the uncontrolled growth of machine identities, and the fragmentation of identifications has become a significant threat to companies worldwide. According to the study, 90% of organizations have faced at least one identity breach in the last year.
AI is no longer just a tool to strengthen cyber defense; it has become a powerful weapon in the hands of attackers who develop increasingly faster and more sophisticated tactics. 94% of corporations use AI to strengthen their identity strategy, but they face new challenges, such as AI-powered phishing, which has affected nine out of ten companies through the use of voice deepfakes and illegitimate emails.
A worrying phenomenon is "shadow AI": 47% of organizations cannot fully secure internal AI tools. Furthermore, it is projected that AI will be the largest producer of new identities with privileged access by 2025, which increases security risks.
It highlights the case in Italy, where scammers used the voice of the Minister of Defense in a fraud that resulted in a transfer of one million euros, illustrating the danger of manipulating digital identities.
The growth of machine identities is a critical challenge: they already outnumber human ones by a ratio of 82 to 1. Forty-two percent of these identities have access to sensitive data, but only 12% of respondents consider them to be privileged users. The mismanagement of these identities can open the door to ongoing attacks.
The existence of identity silos, which fragment the visibility of permissions and roles, is perceived as a root cause of risk in 70% of companies. With a hybrid digital landscape and legacy systems, the lack of comprehensive control becomes a latent risk.
From the regulatory perspective, the European Union and countries like Australia are already implementing frameworks to regulate machine identities strictly. In the geopolitical context, state-sponsored attacks highlight the importance of properly managing identities.
By 2025, the strategic priorities focus on improving application-based security, strengthening privileged access management (PAM), and optimizing governance and identity management (IGA). The key is to treat each identity, human or machine, as a potential vulnerability, consolidating tools and breaking down silos.
As Clarence Hinton, CyberArk's Chief Strategy Officer, emphasizes, in order to withstand this environment it is crucial to modernize identity strategies and manage each access with due caution. This approach will balance the opportunities and threats that AI presents in the future of digital security.
More information and references in Cloud News.
