Trends
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AI and Cybersecurity • May 2025
AI and Cybersecurity: From Living Rooms to Global Networks
We are now at a turning point, reminiscent of the first wave of malware hidden in bootleg software. Back then, the danger was clunky but effective. Today, AI doesn’t arrive via floppy disk–it’s already installed in our homes, embedded in devices we use daily, and it’s opening the door to a new era of vulnerability.
Personal AI, Real-World Risk
AI is no longer confined to enterprise environments. It’s answering homework questions, helping manage grocery lists, editing photos, and finishing sentences. But these systems aren’t just helpful–they’re observant.
Unlike traditional malware, AI doesn’t need access credentials or direct commands. It learns through interaction. It picks up on tone, phrasing, daily rhythms, even emotional patterns.
For those of us in the cybersecurity space, the shift is clear: The perimeter has moved. And the new endpoint might be your kitchen speaker, your partner’s chatbot, or your teenager’s AI homework assistant.
AI and Cybersecurity • May 2025
AI and Resilience Take the Spotlight in 2025
Cybersecurity has never stood still — but in 2025, it’s not just evolving. It’s transforming.
Cybersecurity has entered a pivotal new phase. According to Gartner®, Top Trends in Cybersecurity for 2025, “Security and risk management (SRM) leaders must enable business value and double down on embedding organizational, personal and team resilience to prove security program effectiveness in 2025.”
Security teams are moving beyond the fascination phase with GenAI. Now, it’s about real use cases with measurable benefits. Gartner states:
“SRM leaders are learning from AI transformation pilots and refining their processes based on initial success in taking a more tactical approach to AI integration.”*
Rather than chasing sweeping AI promises, forward-looking teams are prioritizing specific, achievable objectives. This approach is helping reduce risk and maintain credibility by “delivering more incremental security benefits than myopically striving for hype-driven seismic change.”*
AI and Cybersecurity • May 2025
AI is Eroding the Foundations of Digital Identity
AI-driven advancements have significantly altered the threat landscape of social engineering—already one of the most effective techniques for breaching security perimeters. Large language models (LLMs) and generative AI enable real-time, unscripted interaction via text and audio, with rapid synthetic video capabilities advancing.
These technologies dramatically increase the scalability and plausibility of impersonation attacks. Deepfake audio and video, once resource-intensive, are becoming commoditized—reducing the barrier to entry for threat actors and enabling more targeted, personalized campaigns.
As generative media improves in fidelity and accessibility, traditional identity verification mechanisms—such as voice recognition, facial analysis, and behavioral biometrics—are increasingly unreliable. In this new paradigm, where synthetic identities can be generated on demand, digital trust frameworks are no longer reliable and must fortified to withstand AI-enabled deception.
Technology • May 2025
Assessing the Impact of US Tariffs
The global tariff landscape is affecting consumer-facing industries and the underlying component technologies. Against the backdrop of shifting global trade dynamics, the potential impacts for consumers and businesses could be significant. Sectors impacted include:
Automotive: Automotive ecosystem and supply chains.
Consumer hardware: Exploring how global tariff uncertainty is influencing products such as TV sets, smartphones and PCs.
Display technology: With many display manufacturers based in the Asia Pacific region, how can industry players prepare for potential disruptions?
Media and entertainment: Assessing how rising component and technology costs may affect content creation, distribution and the wider industry.
Semiconductors: Given the Asia-centric nature of semiconductor manufacturing, price increases could impact multiple industries.
Telecoms: Understanding the downstream considerations for telcos in B2B strategy planning and hardware.
AI • May 2025
Trade Wars to Tech Wars: Can China’s Stimulus Offset U.S. Tariffs in ICT Markets?
The U.S.-China tech rivalry has escalated to a new level this April 2025 with U.S. tariffs becoming a targeted trade tool. The Trump administration unleashed waves of tariffson Chinese goods: on March 4, a 10% tariff on all imports was imposed on top of raising tariffs from 10% to 20% on many Chinese electronics, machinery and industrial components; on April 2, ending of de minimis eligibility for China and Hong Kong (from May 2) and the “reciprocal tariffs” on key critical sectors imposed an additional 34%; and on April 8, an additional 50% tariff on semiconductors, EVs, and robotics was announced.
There also continues to be tariff escalations, clarifications and exemptions like in cases where final products have more than 20% of U.S. produced components. Chinese imports can be as high as 245% on needles and syringes or as low as zero for children’s books. Imported smartphones, computers and electronics appear to be currently granted a partial tariff reprieve and may only be subject to the March tariffs of 20%.
AI and Cybersecurity • May 2025
Successful AI transformation through three journeys
According to Gartner®, enterprises face multiple AI risks and are most concerned with data compromise, third-party risks, and inaccurate or unwanted outputs: malicious hacks against enterprise AI are still uncommon, while incidents of unconstrained harmful chatbots are well documented and internal oversharing data compromises are prevalent.
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into business operations, the pressure is mounting to deliver meaningful outcomes while managing complexity and uncertainty. With 49% of organizations saying that demonstrating AI value is a top barrier to success, tensions are rising among many C-level executives over who has authority and who is responsible for various facets of AI transformation.
Discussing AI and IP
Passage to Profit
Exploring AI’s Impact on Business
Tech Talks Daily
Exploring AI’s Impact on Marketing
SkyeLine
Studio
Just for Fun
Puzzle
Artificial Intelligence
AI and Cybersecurity: From Living Rooms to Global Networks
In my current work integrating AI into creative and narrative processes–tools that blend photography, storytelling, and generative models–I’ve seen firsthand how quickly AI systems evolve. They learn. They adapt. They anticipate. While my applications may be artistic, the implications for cybersecurity have become impossible to ignore.
We are now at a turning point, reminiscent of the first wave of malware hidden in bootleg software. Back then, the danger was clunky but effective. Today, AI doesn’t arrive via floppy disk–it’s already installed in our homes, embedded in devices we use daily, and it’s opening the door to a new era of vulnerability.
Personal AI, Real-World Risk
AI is no longer confined to enterprise environments. It’s answering homework questions, helping manage grocery lists, editing photos, and finishing sentences. But these systems aren’t just helpful–they’re observant.
Unlike traditional malware, AI doesn’t need access credentials or direct commands. It learns through interaction. It picks up on tone, phrasing, daily rhythms, even emotional patterns.
For those of us in the cybersecurity space, the shift is clear: The perimeter has moved. And the new endpoint might be your kitchen speaker, your partner’s chatbot, or your teenager’s AI homework assistant.
The Home-Corporate Link: New Attack Surfaces
As home networks became essential to corporate operations during the pandemic, we created bridges between personal life and professional infrastructure. AI expands that bridge exponentially.
Today’s risk vectors include:
– A spoofed voice command to a smart speaker that picks up sensitive conversations
– Prompt injection attacks on consumer AI apps that expose behavioral data
– AI-generated impersonation via deepfakes or synthetic text, capable of bypassing multi-factor authentication
This is not a hypothetical. These threats are active and growing. And as AI becomes part of daily life, the distinction between home and enterprise security collapses.
AI-Specific Threat Models
We’re seeing the emergence of threats that don’t rely on traditional exploits. Instead, they use influence, manipulation, and pattern recognition:
– Prompt-based exploits: Malicious actors feeding phrasing to AI models to bypass filters or leak information
– Data poisoning: Skewing AI learning systems through repeated, biased, or malicious input
– Synthetic identity fraud: Creating personas realistic enough to bypass onboarding and vetting systems
This new generation of attacks doesn’t need admin rights. It just needs access–and access is often freely given.
Redefining Cybersecurity for the AI Age
Cybersecurity can no longer be reactive. It must become adaptive and anticipatory. For professionals and families alike, this means:
– Practicing “zero trust” at home as well as in the workplace
– Educating family members about what AI apps do–and what they collect
– Monitoring household devices for unexpected behavior or connectivity patterns
– Using local AI tools when possible and being judicious about permissions granted
On the enterprise level, this includes:
– Training security teams on prompt injection and model manipulation
– Logging and reviewing AI interactions for social engineering attempts
– Advocating for governance frameworks that prioritize personal data protection
Where We Go From Here
The first viruses spread via pirated games and unverified software. The new wave arrives as helpful suggestions, friendly assistants, and auto-complete features.
I believe AI can be transformative–for art, for business, and for life. But it requires new norms, new tools, and a new understanding of what it means to be secure. As someone who straddles the world of AI development and technology communications, I see the need for a broader, more inclusive cybersecurity conversation–one that starts at home but prepares us for what’s ahead.
The firewall isn’t just a tool–it’s a mindset. And in 2025, it starts with how we interact with AI.
About the Author
Paula Phelan is the founder of PiP Art Gallery and a longtime leader in technology storytelling. She has worked with more than 150 technology companies through launch, growth, and acquisition–and continues to explore the intersection of AI, creativity, and security.