Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Today, Cato Networks published the 2025 Cato CTRL Threat Report. It is the inaugural annual threat report from Cato CTRL, the Cato Networks threat intelligence team. The key theme for this year’s report is artificial intelligence (AI), which reflects the current cybersecurity landscape where AI usage is skyrocketing among vendors—and threat actors. Within the report, we examine the security risks associated with LLMs and the increased adoption of AI applications within organizations in 2024.

In today’s fast-paced cybersecurity landscape, CISOs (Chief Information Security Officers) face an undeniable reality: they simply cannot oversee every detail of their security operations. With expanding attack surfaces, regulatory pressures, and the need for 24/7 vigilance, micromanagement is neither sustainable nor effective. Instead, modern CISOs must master the art of delegation while maintaining control—an intricate balancing act akin to a Michelin-starred chef running a high-end kitchen.

With enterprise-wide cloud adoption and the onset of hybrid work, the mission has become clear: to securely connect users to applications — no matter where they are. While solutions like Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), and Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) can protect WAN and internet-bound traffic, anything happening on the internal LAN is in a blind spot.

Over the years, major IoT botnets like Mirai and Mozi have proven how easily routers can be exploited and threat actors have taken note. Two key issues have played in their favor: the fact that users rarely deploy new firmware to their routers, coupled with the lack of regard for security by router vendors. As a result, router vulnerabilities may persist in the wild for much longer than initially expected, even after patches are published publicly.

Change isn’t optional—IT leaders know this better than anyone. IT has always been the backbone of the business, keeping everything secure, connected, and efficient. But the demands on IT—and the business—have changed. Cloud adoption, hybrid work, competitive pressures, and rising costs have exposed the cracks in legacy architectures and pushed them past their limits.

Cybercriminals often exploit outdated vulnerabilities – quite literally. While organizations focus on addressing the latest zero-day threats, attackers continue to profit by targeting weaknesses that should have been resolved long ago. Some of these Common Vulnerability and Exposures (CVEs) date back nearly a decade, yet they remain heavily exploited. This trend proves that old flaws never truly disappear.

In line with our philosophy of delivering an exceptional customer experience, Cato Networks has added a knowledge-base AI assistant as part of the Cato SASE Cloud Platform. The AI assistant provides accurate, relevant answers to questions about using Cato’s many capabilities with detailed, step-by-step instructions uniquely suited to the user’s situation and circumstance.

Ever feel like some tools are designed by people who’ve never had to use them? Like those public restroom hand dryers that leave your hands wetter than before, or CAPTCHAs that make you question if you even know what a bicycle looks like—it’s like a bad joke at our expense. In the 2022 Devo SOC Performance Report, questions were raised about the biggest challenges faced by security operations center (SOC) teams.

In today’s hyperconnected industrial landscape, IoT and OT devices have become integral to modern operations, yet their security posture often remains inadequately monitored. Cato CTRL is revealing a new and innovative approach to IoT/OT threat detection by leveraging advanced behavioral analysis of IoT/OT devices to generate high-confidence Indicators of Compromise (IoCs).

This past year was a defining one for all of us at Cato Networks and for the industry at large. The enterprise networking and security market is undergoing a seismic shift—one that we have long anticipated. The days of fragmented, bolt-on security solutions are over. The market has spoken, and it’s clear: enterprises demand a single, converged platform to securely connect their operations everywhere. Cato is delivering exactly that.