WhoisXML API Blog

Cybersecurity in 2025 and Beyond: Top Predictions

Change is the only constant in this world, and cybersecurity is no exception to that rule. While no one can know for sure what will happen in 2025 and the years to come, one thing is certain: organizations must adapt to new cybersecurity trends to keep pace with peers and adversaries alike.

For one, organizations will need to employ a proactive and integrated approach to cybersecurity this year due to the forecasted growth of high-impact artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled threats. While this strategy has been peeking around the corner in the past few years, it will take the frontline in 2025.

WhoisXML API presents this and other cybersecurity predictions, covering both emerging cyber threats and the strategies required to address them, to help organizations prepare for future challenges.

First Watch Meets Web Categorization: Predictive Exploratory Insights on Malicious Domains

Author: Ed Gibbs
Editor: Alexandre François

Abstract

Domain categorization is an essential component of cybersecurity, enabling businesses and security solutions to identify and mitigate threats at the network level. Certain categories are especially relevant for flagging confirmed malicious websites, which may be hosted on domain names that First Watch Malicious Domains Data Feed can detect even before they are weaponized.

The feed leverages deep learning and proprietary techniques to identify suspicious domains at the time of registration. Its threat prevention effectiveness is continually assessed, offering users assurance when deciding whether to preemptively block or closely monitor the domains listed in the feed’s files.

In our latest analysis, we explored a dataset of 477,082 domains collected from the feed, using a reputable web categorization service provided by a renowned cybersecurity organization to classify them. Of these, 50,436 domains were successfully categorized, with notable classifications such as malicious (5,219), pornography (2,843), gambling (1,725), and phishing (366). This study applies advanced statistical methods to identify patterns, highlight potential biases in detection, and propose areas for improving categorization algorithms.

Decoding the Encoded

Authors:
Ed Gibbs, Field CTO, WHOIS API Inc.
Jeff Vogelpohl

Introduction

Growing up, I remember the vast array of candies and ice cream flavors while visiting quaint candy shops. Today, we’re overwhelmed by the plethora of technologies any imaginative person could want – thanks to the provocativeness of human ingenuity. As flavors were designed for these memories of delightful treats, this same ingenuity has brought technological advancements like AI to aid and improve all life whereas some provide just the opposite. Our adversaries continuously exploit and weaponize our ingenuity to degrade life. Life is worth protecting.

The SPF Onion: Enter the World of SPF Chaos

Authors:
Ed Gibbs, Field CTO, WHOIS API Inc.
Jeff Vogelpohl

Introduction

It was late in the evening on September 25, 2024, when I received a suspicious email in my personal inbox. It was cleverly disguised as a message from an insurance company I currently do business with, but something felt off—the usual company icon didn’t look quite right. Normally, I verify the sender by clicking on the icon to check the email address, but this time it wouldn’t pop up. Sensing something was amiss, I decided to dig deeper.

What Are the Priorities for the U.S. Administration Cybersecurity Spending in 2026?

The White House has laid out a road map on how executive departments and agencies should plan to spend their cybersecurity dollars in the coming years. On 10 July 2024, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memorandum outlining the administration’s cybersecurity investment priorities. The memo intends to guide relevant government entities as they prepare their 2026 budget submissions to the OMB.

The U.S. government is taking a page out of its own National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS) playbook, wrapping its investment priorities around five pillars to improve the country’s cybersecurity posture, namely:

Making Email Security Smarter with Domain Intelligence

More than 4 billion people checking their emails daily represents a goldmine for attackers. No wonder phishing remains one of the biggest threats today, pushing email security to the top of organizations' cyber priorities.

But here's the kicker—90% of malicious emails can slip through email security standards, such as the Sender Policy Framework (SPF); the DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM); or Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC).

While many email security providers are out there, those offering a multilayered approach can offer more.

Name Server Concentration: Who Controls the Domain Name System?

Name servers (NSs) play a crucial role in how the Internet works, directing traffic to the correct destinations. Specifically, NS records tell recursive resolver servers which authoritative NS is responsible for a specific domain name. The resolver would then contact the authoritative NS to obtain the domain's corresponding IP address.

While having a small number of entities control a large portion of the DNS can increase efficiency, it could also result in choke points, where a single disruption could significantly impact a large portion of Internet traffic.

Exploring IoCs and Their DNS Narratives

No matter how stealthy attackers try to be, they almost always leave a trail behind—digital breadcrumbs known as “indicators of compromise (IoCs)” after a cyber attack or an attempted intrusion.

Let's take the Black Basta ransomware attacks as an example. Cybersecurity authorities like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) identified hundreds of IoCs associated with this ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) variant. These IoCs include cyber resources like file hashes, domain names, and IP addresses, and serve as digital footprints pertaining to the attackers’ activities. They provide invaluable clues for cybersecurity professionals, helping them understand what happened and prevent similar attacks in the future.