--- title: "Data Security in 2025: Five Steps to Strategic Success in 2025" description: 5 Cybersecurity predictions of 2025 image: https://insights.comforte.com/hubfs/comforte%20AG_Data%20Security%20in%202025_Five%20Steps%20to%20Strategic%20Success%20in%202025_19.12.png --- [![Hubspot\_blog\_logo](https://insights.comforte.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Hubspot_blog_logo.png?width=295&name=Hubspot_blog_logo.png)](http://www.comforte.com) [![Subscribe to comforte Insights](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4026697/ba125972-4bdc-4e47-b9a9-81df496120a0.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4026697/ba125972-4bdc-4e47-b9a9-81df496120a0) [![comforte AG - Data Security in 2025: Five Steps to Strategic Success in 2025](https://insights.comforte.com/hubfs/comforte%20AG_Data%20Security%20in%202025_Five%20Steps%20to%20Strategic%20Success%20in%202025_19.12.png)](https://insights.comforte.com/data-security-in-2025-five-steps-to-strategic-success-in-2025) [Michael Jaiyeola](https://insights.comforte.com/author/michael-jaiyeola) l Dec 19, 2024 l [Research, Trends, and Predictions](https://insights.comforte.com/tag/research-trends-and-predictions) # Data Security in 2025: Five Steps to Strategic Success in 2025 As 2024 comes to a close, IT security and business leaders will be braced for another challenging year ahead. In the long-term, economic uncertainty and geopolitical instability seem set to continue, creating the conditions in which threat actors thrive. They will increasingly have the [tools at their disposal](https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/global-ransomware-threat-expected-to-rise-with-ai) to launch more impactful cyber-attacks in greater numbers. In the meantime, boards will want to push ahead with important digital transformation initiatives—potentially expanding their attack surfaces in the process. At the center of it all sits corporate data: the critical driver of competitive advantage, operational efficiency and improved decision making. And the enterprise asset that most threat actors want to get their hands on. With this in mind, here are five tips to help inform data security strategy over the coming year. ## 1)  Get your compliance house in order It’s been a big year for new regulatory rules, and 2025 will be no different. We’ll see the compliance deadline for the EU’s [Digital Operational Resilience Act](https://insights.comforte.com/what-the-upcoming-dora-regulation-means-for-your-business?hsLang=en) (DORA) land in January, while many organizations will still be rolling out their [NIS 2 plans](https://insights.comforte.com/nis-2-is-coming-what-does-it-mean-for-your-business?hsLang=en), and tweaking their [PCI DSS 4.0](https://insights.comforte.com/preparing-for-pci-dss-4.0-five-steps-to-get-financial-institutions-ready?hsLang=en) strategies. The most important point to remember throughout, is that compliance should never be a one-off exercise. Plans are most effective when they follow a circular process of risk assessment, implementation, auditing and review. By focusing on data-centric security, organizations may find that they can actually reduce the cost and scope of some compliance programs. ## 2)  Take steps to mitigate supply chain risk The number of breached US organizations impacted by supply chain attacks has risen an astonishing 2,600 percentage points since 2018. [Last year alone there](https://www.idtheftcenter.org/publication/2023-data-breach-report/) were over 2,700 entities affected, victimizing more than 54 million individuals. As digital and traditional supply chains continue to grow in 2025, organizations need to get better at mapping their dependencies and data flows, and auditing their suppliers. By protecting what’s most important, the data itself, many potential supply chain risks can be mitigated. ## 3)  Harness the power of AI securely AI has been the tech story of the past two years. And with the technology predicted to [generate up to $23 trillion](https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/the-next-big-arenas-of-competition) globally by 2040, ambitious enterprises will be keen to exploit new business opportunities this coming year. But the data on which value-enhancing projects are built will increasingly become a target in its own right—for outright information theft or possible data poisoning attacks designed to alter and/or sabotage AI output. That’s why the data used in such projects must be protected from the outset, but in a manner that means it can still be used. Tokenization, for example, preserves utility so that data can be fed into cloud-based analytics tools, without compromising on security. ## 4)  Plan your Zero Trust data security strategy Zero Trust should be on everyone’s radar by now. According to [Gartner](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-04-22-gartner-survey-reveals-63-percent-of-organizations-worldwide-have-implemented-a-zero-trust-strategy#:~:text=Sixty%2Dthree%20percent%20of%20organizations,of%20the%20overall%20cybersecurity%20budget.), 63% of global organizations now have a fully or partially implemented strategy. However, for most, this represents less than half of their environment. There’s no denying the fact that Zero Trust requires significant time, money and effort. But when it comes to data security—a foundational part of any Zero Trust approach—there are new resources to hand. A US [*Federal Zero Trust Data Security Guide*](https://www.cio.gov/assets/files/Zero-Trust-Data-Security-Guide_Oct24-Final.pdf)could provide a blueprint for success in 2025. ## 5)  Shine a light on your clouds Cloud adoption will continue to grow in 2025. Gartner [predicts](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-05-20-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-surpass-675-billion-in-2024) annual growth of over 20% to reach worldwide spending of nearly $825bn next year. But too often, these environments are a black box. That’s bad news when threat actors are circling and misconfigurations often leave data stores exposed. Put simply, organizations can’t protect what they can’t see. So enterprise IT security leaders must search out data protection platforms capable of shining a light on all parts of the organization, including third-party cloud environments, so they are able to continually discover, classify and secure sensitive data, wherever it is. --- | Share this: | [![LinkedIn](https://insights.comforte.com/hubfs/Social%20Icons/linkedin%20icon.png)](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://insights.comforte.com/data-security-in-2025-five-steps-to-strategic-success-in-2025&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin) | [![Bluesky](https://insights.comforte.com/hubfs/Social%20Icons/bluesky_logo.png)](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?url=https://insights.comforte.com/data-security-in-2025-five-steps-to-strategic-success-in-2025&utm_medium=social&utm_source=Bluesky) | ![Twitter](https://insights.comforte.com/hubfs/Social%20Icons/twitter_x_logo-1.png) | [![XING](https://insights.comforte.com/hubfs/Social%20Icons/xing-color2.png)](https://www.xing.com/spi/shares/new?url=https://insights.comforte.com/data-security-in-2025-five-steps-to-strategic-success-in-2025&utm_medium=social&utm_source=xing) | [![Email](https://insights.comforte.com/hubfs/Social%20Icons/email%20icon.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://insights.comforte.com/data-security-in-2025-five-steps-to-strategic-success-in-2025&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email%20&body=Check%20out%20https://insights.comforte.com/data-security-in-2025-five-steps-to-strategic-success-in-2025&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ## Learn how to discover, classify, and protect all sensitive data. Click the button below to download the solution brief for our Data Security Platform: [![Download Solution Brief](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4026697/65e094b1-44ae-496e-be17-1678a1876675.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4026697/65e094b1-44ae-496e-be17-1678a1876675) ### Related posts ![Hackers Are Spoilt for Choice: It’s Time to Focus on Data-Centric Security](https://insights.comforte.com/hubfs/comforte%20AG_Hackers%20Are%20Spoilt%20for%20Choice_%20It%E2%80%99s%20Time%20to%20Focus%20on%20Data-Centric%20Security.png) May 8, 2025 l [Data Protection](https://insights.comforte.com/tag/data-protection) , [Research, Trends, and Predictions](https://insights.comforte.com/tag/research-trends-and-predictions) ### [Hackers Are Spoilt for Choice: It’s Time to Focus on Data-Centric Security](https://insights.comforte.com/hackers-are-spoilt-for-choice-its-time-to-focus-on-data-centric-security?hsLang=en) Getting actionable intelligence about the data breach landscape isn’t always easy. Fortunately, the annual [Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report](https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/T23a/reports/2025-dbir-data-breach-investigations-report.pdf) (DBIR) is an exception to the rule. Based on the tech firm’s incident response engagements, as well... [Read more](https://insights.comforte.com/hackers-are-spoilt-for-choice-its-time-to-focus-on-data-centric-security?hsLang=en) ![A Year in Data Security: Five Things We’ve Learned From 2024](https://insights.comforte.com/hubfs/comforte%20AG_A%20Year%20in%20Data%20Security_%20Five%20Things%20We%E2%80%99ve%20Learned%20From%202024_9.012.png) Dec 12, 2024 l [Research, Trends, and Predictions](https://insights.comforte.com/tag/research-trends-and-predictions) ### [A Year in Data Security: Five Things We’ve Learned From 2024](https://insights.comforte.com/a-year-in-data-security-five-things-weve-learned-from-2024?hsLang=en) As the dust settles on another hectic 12 months, business and IT leaders should enjoy a well-earned break. But not for long. The end of one year offers a fantastic vantage point from which to view the macro trends that may go on to shape the next.... [Read more](https://insights.comforte.com/a-year-in-data-security-five-things-weve-learned-from-2024?hsLang=en) ### Service - [Contact](https://www.comforte.com/contact/) - [About us](https://www.comforte.com/company/) - [Blog](https://insights.comforte.com/) - [Press Releases](https://www.comforte.com/company/press-releases/) - [Career](https://www.comforte.com/company/career/) - [Resources](https://www.comforte.com/resources/) ### EMEA comforte AG Abraham-Lincoln-Str. 22 65189 Wiesbaden Germany Phone: + 49 611 93199 00 Fax: + 49 611 93199 05 ### Asia-Pacific comforte PTY Suite 20, 1 Rivett Road North Ryde NSW 2113 Australia Postal Address: PO Box 1710 Lane Cove NSW 1595 Australia Phone: +61 2 8197 0272 ### Americas comforte Inc. 30 Wall Street, 8th Floor New York, NY 10005-2205 USA Phone: +1-646-438-5716 ### Southeast Asia comforte Asia Pte. Ltd. 1 Raffles Place, #19-61 Tower 2  Singapore 048616 Phone: +65 6808 5507 - [Sitemap](https://www.comforte.com/sitemap/) - [Legal Notice](https://www.comforte.com/legal-notice/) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.comforte.com/privacy-policy/) © comforte AG 2026