Technology Trends 2018

Tech trends move fast these days, and with the first half of 2018 firmly out the door, we thought this would be a good time to review a few of the biggest trends making waves in the tech and security world. Let’s not waste time.

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Most of us are acquainted with consumer-facing AI applications, such as Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa that learn our preferences and try to present us with a natural user experience. However, the true value of AI is on the enterprise side of things, where machine learning and predictive analytics are being applied to help companies corral their data.

The applications are broad, and the impact is huge. Data from PwC predicts that AI advancements will contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.

2. Internet-of-Things (IoT)

The IoT refers to the growing network of devices embedded with software, sensors, and data-transmission capabilities to connect with the internet from any location. It’s unquestionably convenient and has made major waves in every corner of the world, from international supply chain optimization to Smart Home security to digitally-connected coffee cups that guarantee your brew never goes cold.

Unfortunately, our thirst for always-on connectivity presents serious challenges to user privacy and data security. Hacking tools (such as botnets) are keeping pace and allow malicious users to break into malware-infected IoT devices.

And given that malware can infect nearly any system—even new-in-box smartphones straight from the factory floor—companies will need to redefine their data security strategies to accommodate this array of new attack vectors.

3. Ransomware Cybersecurity

We’ve discussed the proliferance of ransomware threats in previous articles, but things are set to get worse before they get better. The MIT Technology Review predicted that cloud servers would be the new target of ransomware in 2018, and given that major cloud providers like Microsoft have been working to build out their own disaster recovery (DR) plans for when their cloud servers get hit by ransomware, the threat seems to be real.

The best way for companies to protect themselves against these threats—and new, emerging threats—is to create a structured, effective DR plan to ensure business continuity. It may be difficult to predict where attacks will appear next, but with the right security plan in your corner, your company will have nothing to fear.