While AI continues to dominate the cybersecurity landscape, several other technologies and threat vectors are quietly gaining traction in the background and are expected to affect cybersecurity by 2030, says the report.
These include autonomous systems and robotics, quantum technologies, digital currencies, space technologies and undersea cables, and natural disasters and climate change. By the end of the decade, autonomous systems will be a near-term factor, from AI assisting in analysis to its directing of physical actions in factories, logistics, healthcare and public spaces. This evolution could create a new cyber‑physical risk profile, where machine‑executed decisions can alter safety and service quality within seconds, compressing detection and response windows.
By 2030, quantum technology will have evolved from a theoretical disruptor into a selective but material threat to cryptography, the report predicts. State-level or well-resourced actors may be capable of quantum-accelerated attacks on high-value targets, even as full-scale code breaking remains rare. At the same time, defenders will harness quantum-enhanced analytics and sensing for anomaly detection, creating a dynamic attacker-defender race.
