Futurum Research acts as an information broker, connecting technology buyers, sellers, investors, and other stakeholders to provide decision support and insights into the cybersecurity landscape. Their research, led by Fernando Montenegro and with contributions from analysts like Krista Case, encompasses both qualitative and quantitative methods, including a recent survey of over 800 decision-makers across various global markets. This survey, conducted between February and April 2025, focused on understanding organizational changes and perspectives on different cybersecurity fields, with a significant emphasis on senior leadership.

The research identified four major trends shaping cybersecurity in 2025: the pervasive influence of AI, the expanding and increasingly complex attack surface, a significant move towards security platforms, and the evolution of data protection into broader resilience strategies. Organizational trends indicate that cybersecurity is gaining executive visibility, with frequent reporting to senior leadership and a notable increase in security budgets driven by modernization efforts, risk management strategies, and regulatory compliance. When evaluating vendors, product effectiveness and capabilities remain paramount, but total cost of ownership and integration with existing tools are increasingly critical factors. The survey also highlighted challenges in vendor evaluation due to the crowded and noisy cybersecurity marketplace.

Key findings across specific cybersecurity domains reveal several insights. Cloud security incidents and data breaches were the most reported incidents, leading to data loss and operational downtime. In application security, talent shortages and legacy application debt are major challenges, with application development teams often leading security efforts. Cloud security sees stronger ownership by security teams in multi-cloud environments, with a preference for cloud provider-native security solutions. Data security initiatives are increasingly leveraging AI/ML for threat detection and focusing on data security posture management. Endpoint security remains stable, primarily providing telemetry for security operations, while identity management is a "new hotness," especially concerning non-human identities and rising costs. Risk management and security operations are becoming the central nervous system for modern security, with a focus on improving context derivation and incorporating cloud security into SecOps. Network security emphasizes automation, NDR, and micro-segmentation for zero-trust implementation. Lastly, while optimism about AI's role in security is high, Futurum stresses the need for education regarding AI's actual capabilities and limitations in replacing human analysts.

Presented by Fernando Montenegro, VP and Practice Lead. Recorded live at Security Field Day 13 in Santa Clara, CA on May 29, 2025. Watch the entire presentation at https://techfieldday.com/appearance/futurum-research-presents-cybersecurity-trends-at-security-field-day-13/ or visit https://techfieldday.com/event/xfd13/ or https://FuturumGroup.com for more information.