NetLib Security predictions 2025: Generative AI, cybersecurity, and data privacy

As seen in App Developer Magazine, Featured Story, Jan 2, 2025

The leading prediction for 2025 will sound familiar: Generative AI directly affects your privacy rights. In many ways, this is a twist on the typical cybersecurity problem. Rather than a hacker or a bad actor breaking in to steal your data, we are being asked to hand our keys to the companies we often trust the most: Microsoft, Apple, Dropbox, and Google!

It’s common to accept the default settings on the apps or operating systems we use. But in many cases, that leaves your data vulnerable to harvesting. Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI rely on enormous pools of data on which they can train their systems. The data in your emails, your cloud documents, and your online social media accounts can all be considered fair game for use in these LLMs.

Forecasting the landscape in 2025

So what can you do to safeguard your information? Here are a few suggestions:

ChatGPT, which has a partnership with Apple, is both a separate app, and also a provider of some of the technology behind Apple Intelligence. You have the option in Apple iOS to turn off Apple Intelligence, or simply not opt into the AI features. If Apple Intelligence is not important to you, you can just leave it disabled!

In the ChatGPT standalone app, you can also prevent the LLM from using your own data to train the algorithm. Simply go into the app, click the dots next to your account name to view Settings, and then under Data Control, unselect “Improve The Model for Everyone”, and also unselect “Include Your Audio Recordings”.

Dropbox also shares your data with vetted third-party AI providers, but only when you use a feature that is specifically labeled as “Will use third-party AI”. Using one of these features is inviting a third party (not Dropbox) to scan your data, and potentially harvest it for their own use.

If you want to be sure that you do not share your data, make sure that you do not use any of those features, such as a summarization of your documents. Some accounts also let you set AI usage on or off globally. If the “Third-party AI” toggle is turned off, you won’t see any Dropbox AI features.

But what is a good way to prevent any of your data from being stolen, misused, or misappropriated? Encryption, which is already commonly in use, is going to become easier to utilize and employed by more end-users who wish to protect their data from prying eyes. Whenever it is offered, turn on encryption to protect communications and documents.

That brings us to the second prediction of 2025: ransomware will become more malevolent. The trend in recent ransomware attacks has been to utilize stolen data for two purposes: to halt a business’s operations until the ransom is paid, and secondly to blackmail the company with the threat of releasing sensitive personally identifiable information (PII).

Incidents of ransomware have become more widespread as employees, systems, and software move to a distributed, remote-work environment. It has become increasingly difficult to secure software that often runs in a user’s home network. And those users are prime targets for the standard phishing attacks that open the door to hackers inserting ransomware bots into a corporate network fabric, scrambling, locking, and stealing thousands of documents and databases.

In 2025, we can expect to see more major corporations crippled by ransomware, as well as the release, often on the dark web, of poorly protected, unencrypted plain text documents with social security numbers, birth dates, and bank account numbers.

Which brings us to our final prediction for 2025: workers return to the office for a majority of the work week with one notable exception – developers. The trend to hybrid and even full-time office work has begun, and many offices have seen the return of employees to the office for a number of reasons. Foremost is the perceived improvement in communication, including casual communication in hallways, break rooms, and ad-hoc meetings. Another high priority for the return-to-office movement is improved security and simplified IT management. It’s just easier to lock down on-premises workstations and devices that have physical security built-in.

Why not developers? Although software engineers will absolutely see more in-office days, the scarcity of skilled developers often drives hiring in geographically diverse areas, including off-shore and near-shore workers. Even domestically-based programmers are increasingly spread out across the country, and will strongly resist relocation, if that is even financially viable.

Developers have a special role to play in security – in producing corporate intellectual property, working with proprietary corporate data, or in creating their own products that may store sensitive data. Developers have a special set of programming knowledge, but will also need to acquire the skills to build products with protection in mind. An application design needs to be created with a security-first approach: protect the data, protect the networks, and protect the application’s unique intellectual property.

A common theme in these predictions continues to be the need for data security. Here at NetLib Security we think of this all the time – it’s in our name! The threat vectors are becoming ever more intelligent and clever, with many coming from trusted, known sources. Whether it is private data, corporate data, industry secrets, or developer intellectual property, app developers will need to shore up their skills and defenses. Encryption of data is a formidable tool.

About NetLib Security

NetLib Security has spent the past 20+ years developing a powerful, patented solution that starts by setting up a formidable offense for every environment where your data resides: physical, virtual and cloud. Our platform simplifies the process while ensuring high levels of security.

Simplify your data security needs. Encryptionizer is easy to deploy. It is a cost-effective way to proactively and transparently protect your sensitive data that allows you to quickly and confidently meet your security requirements. With budget considerations in mind, we have designed an affordable data security platform that protects, manages, and defends your data, while responding to the ever changing compliance requirements.

Data breaches are expensive. Security does not have to be.

NetLib Security works with government agencies, healthcare organizations, small to large enterprises, financial services, credit card processors, distributors, and resellers to provide a flexible data security solution that meets their evolving needs. To learn more or request a free evaluation visit us at www.netlibsecurity.com.

David Stonehill is the CTO of NetLib Security, a security software development company that offers a number of data protection products including Encryptionizer®, which transparently encrypts data-at-rest in SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and nearly any Windows-based application. Prior to joining NetLib Security, David has led development groups at MCI, The Associated Press, and The BoxOffice Company.