Cyber Insights 2025: Cybersecurity Regulatory Mayhem

We simply do not know how this will play out in 2025 under a small government favoring administration.

However, given the general perception that the new administration will seek to rein in perceived federal agency regulatory excesses, we can expect the unexpected. While still president-elect, Trump made his feelings clear – signaling upcoming federal de-regulation. “We will probably see less administrative rulemaking by the SEC, HHS, FTC and other federal agencies traditionally active in privacy and data protection spheres at the federal level,” suggests Ilia Kolochenko (CEO at ImmuniWeb, partner at Platt Law LLP, and an adjunct professor of Cyber Law & Cybersecurity).

“The death of the Chevron doctrine could result in challenges to the data privacy regulations employed by the FTC, the FCC, and the HHS,” agrees Dante Stella at the Dykema law firm. “If such challenges succeed, they would put more pressure on Washington to enact new sectorial laws – or one comprehensive data privacy law to rule them all.”

Kolochenko feels the pressure is more likely to find an outlet at the state level. “US states will retain a broad leeway to enact state laws on any matters, to the extent permitted by the Constitution. Therefore,” he says, “we should expect even more state laws on privacy, data protection and AI – making US-wide compliance a pretty burdensome and cost-prohibitive exercise.”

It is, of course, conjecture at this stage – but we can be sure that the Chevron effect and conservative politics will have a dramatic effect on the regulatory landscape in 2025 and subsequent years.

“We may see an exodus of certain US tech companies from th

e European market because of unclear and relentlessly expanding laws and regulations,” cautions Kolochenko. “If the EU continues its current strategy of over-regulation in virtually all tech sectors, Europe may sooner or later find itself isolated from the rest of the world.”

It gets worse. “Over-regulation is a global phenomenon that may provoke most companies to knowingly ignore and violate laws, since the payment of fines will be much less expensive than ensuring compliance.” He warns that the conflict between laudable regulation and stifling innovation is real; “Ultimately giving foreign companies undue competitive advantage – let alone cybercrime groups who don’t care a fig about any laws. Laws and regulations are essential instruments to protect society and to safeguard human rights, but they must be enacted with care and scrupulous analysis of collateral effects on the global scale.” Read Full Article