How to Stay One Step Ahead in the Cybersecurity Race

In 2025, cybersecurity no longer feels like an IT side project. It has become a strategic priority that determines whether organizations can function without interruption. In fact, Gallup recently reported that cyberterrorism was the highest among the ‘critical threats to America’s interests. 

While it’s easy to dismiss this as something that only the defense industry has to worry about, it could affect your organization. Many cyber attacks don’t just target the military. They also focus on educational institutions and corporate companies with data that hackers find valuable. 

Staying safe requires you to constantly be updating and upgrading your security systems. In this article, let’s find out how your institution can begin or improve that process.

Start Auditing Your Defenses Today

Many organizations run on legacy systems, outdated firewalls, or software that hasn’t seen a patch in years. Those gaps often become the easiest entry points for attackers. Thus, a proper audit reveals where your defenses are solid and where they’re falling apart. 

Essentially, you should be looking at every layer of your infrastructure: networks, endpoints, servers, and even the applications staff rely on daily. Your audits should also assess policies and procedures.  

Do you have clear incident response protocols? Is employee access reviewed regularly, or do former staff still have active logins months after leaving? If your audit finds your organization to be well prepared, then you can confidently focus on keeping that edge. 

Since we’re focused on upgrading, it also makes sense to ensure that even your audit process gets modernized. In a recent paper, Sahin, Menekse, and Yilmaz have proposed a neutrosophic CRITIC-CODAS methodology to aid in selecting the most appropriate AI-based software for cybersecurity auditing. This is a combination of several complex decision-making frameworks and is beyond the scope of this article. However, it is well worth researching if you’re serious about upgrading every aspect of your cybersecurity defense. 

Build a Layered Defense Strategy

One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is relying on a single line of defense. Effective cybersecurity requires multiple controls working together to reduce risk at every point. So, if you’re wondering how to improve eKYC security, consider using tools like liveness verification for fraud prevention.  

As AU10TIX notes, this authenticates the person undergoing the eKYC process as an additional layer of security. The liveness check can be conducted either actively or passively, with active checks requiring direct interaction. Passive liveness checks use algorithms to analyze the video and examine aspects like eye reflection, skin texture, and facial movements.  

This makes it great to counter spoofing attacks where photos and videos are used to try to cheat the KYC process. Another important aspect of a layered defense strategy involves all members of our organization. If you haven’t already, encourage your employees to upgrade from 2FA to multifactor authorization (MFA).

Research shows that accounts with MFA enabled had a 99.99% protection rate, and MFA implementation in a commercial setting led to a 99.22% reduction in compromise risk. In fact, even with accounts that had their credentials leaked, MFA was still able to reduce the risk of compromise by 98.56%. 

Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC adds another layer of defense by protecting your organization from email spoofing and phishing attacks.

Hopefully, your audit has revealed all the areas like these that can benefit from the latest advancements. 

Recognize the Expanding Threat Landscape

Cyber threats are no longer confined to traditional malware or ransomware attacks. Just a few years ago, Business Insider was running articles talking about how criminals had started to use ChatGPT to generate phishing emails and Python scripts for malware attacks. Sergey Shykevich, a researcher at a cybersecurity company, noted that while there were some errors, much of it was correct. 

Today, AI has improved several magnitudes compared to what it was in 2021. Hackers are now crafting highly convincing phishing emails that native English speakers would otherwise have found suspicious. 

Moreover, it’s not just the overall improvement in the quality of attacks but also the number of them. 

In the UK, there are news reports that banks are being attacked constantly today. Even the Governor of the Bank of England went on the record to state that cybersecurity threats are a risk that is never going away because of how they continually evolve. What’s even more worrying is that cybersecurity agencies are advising organizations to prepare for hacks using quantum computers by 2035. 

This is because such attacks have the potential to break through conventional digital encryption. Of course, if hackers use quantum computers to execute an attack, then we likely have the same ability to defend against them. Thus, the cycle of attack and defense will continue, with the victims being those who can’t keep up. 

Frequently asked questions

1. Why is cybersecurity used?

Cybersecurity is used to keep sensitive data safe and protect systems from hackers, malware, and scams. Without it, personal details, financial records, or even government information can be stolen or manipulated. It’s basically the digital lock and alarm system for today’s connected world.

2. What is the role of cybersecurity in an organization?

In an organization, cybersecurity keeps daily operations running smoothly by safeguarding networks, devices, and data. It prevents disruptions like ransomware attacks, ensures compliance with laws, and builds customer trust. In short, it helps the business focus on growth instead of constantly fighting off threats.

3. What are the top 3 types of cyber attacks?

The most common cyber attacks are phishing, where fake emails trick people into sharing sensitive info; malware/ransomware, which infects devices and locks files for ransom; and DDoS attacks, where hackers overwhelm servers with traffic, crashing websites or apps. Each one can cripple operations if not stopped.

Ultimately, cybersecurity upgrades feel like an endless race against threats that keep getting smarter, faster, and harder to pin down. Unfortunately, this isn’t an optional race. It’s only through a willingness to keep moving forward, auditing, training, and improving defenses that your organization stays safe. The real question is whether you make advancements before your attackers do.