DNSFilter 2025 Predictions: Zero Trust is No Longer Optional

108% Increase in Risky Domain Traffic on DNSFilter Network Highlights Importance of Protection

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DNSFilter announced today its cybersecurity predictions for 2025 based on insights from its network data. The predictions reveal how AI and other factors will change the threat landscape  – and the adjustments that will be necessary to overcome these risks.

DNSFilter's predictions highlight the necessity of a flexible, proactive security strategy. Cybersecurity's future depends on vigilance and the ability and desire to try novel approaches as needed. By discerning where cybercrime and defenses are going, organizations can get ahead of nascent threats and strengthen their strategy to keep their future secure.

Based on the data DNSFilter has gathered over the last six months, here is the company's forecast for the coming year:

Zero Trust will no longer be optional – Zero Trust will be cemented as the standard architecture model next year. This model will completely replace legacy, perimeter-based models. More and more, security controls will hone in on workloads and the workforce instead of only the workplace. This will result in a stronger defense posture over varied environments.

DNSFilter's researchers found that traffic to new and possibly risky domains rose 108% on their network during the past six months, a traffic increase that underscores the vital necessity of a Zero Trust policy. This includes protective DNS, which proactively finds and blocks unknown domains as a way to stop possible threats from affecting an organization.

AI will make both hacking and its defeat easier – AI lowers the barrier to creating cyber exploits, leading to a proliferation of them. This will require both new technical skills and strategic thinking. DNSFilter has already begun to fight AI-based threats via its Malicious Domain Protection solution, using machine learning to catalog suspected threats.

Domain-generation algorithms (DGAs) are used by some malware to automatically generate many domains, with the goal of avoiding detection by standard security solutions that depend on lists of known bad domains. Malicious Domain Protection examines these domain strings to evaluate their risk. It does a great job of finding DGAs, but that's not all; it also finds domains associated with other online threats.

The lack of a perimeter will require new tools – Next year, many of the current crop of security solutions will be obsolete due to their perimeter-based focus. In the vast, dispersed digital landscape, security is needed in every location and for every device; there is no longer a true perimeter. DNSFilter's network saw a steady increase in remote deployments this year, including a 56% spike in monthly traffic to remote devices.

TK Keanini, chief technology officer, DNSFilter, said: "Organizations face increasing challenges in protecting their end users from a wide range of threats that sit behind malicious domain names, and this issue will only get worse as AI-driven attacks become more prevalent. We've shared these insights to help businesses grasp the scale of the threat and take proactive steps to strengthen their defenses in order to stay ahead of cybercriminals."

About the company:
DNSFilter is redefining how organizations secure their largest threat vector: the Internet itself. DNSFilter is making the Internet safer and workplaces more productive by blocking threats at the DNS layer. DNSFilter resolves upwards of 130 billion daily queries. With 79% of attacks using Domain Name System (DNS), DNSFilter provides the world's fastest protective DNS powered by AI, blocking threats an average of 10 days faster than traditional threat feeds. Over 35 million users trust DNSFilter to protect them from phishing, malware, and advanced cyber threats. Learn more at: https://www.dnsfilter.com/

SOURCE DNSFilter