2018 was an eventful year with regard to cybersecurity. The world witnessed some of the biggest data breaches yet with Facebook, K-mart, Amazon, and Cathay facing the brunt of it all. Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg was summoned by Canada and the United Kingdom to answer questions of privacy infringement on Facebook. A new standard of cybersecurity in the General Data Protection Regulation now imposes international obligations on corporations to maintain privacy.

It was not all bad. Developments were made in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, albeit small. Most corporations have adopted cloud computing and incident response automation. Cybersecurity companies, nevertheless, still strive to be a step ahead of their attackers. The evolution of the Internet of Things also presents another frontier for cyber attacks or cybersecurity depending on which team you are playing for. All in all, 2019 has kept the cyber-world in wanton anticipation.

Here are some predictions for 2019:

1. The Internet of Things

The internet of things is a network of devices other than computers that allows them to communicate with each other. The IoT can be found in some home appliances, medical devices such as pacemakers, and sensors among others. The internet of things allows these devices to connect without the involvement of a human. It was sired by a conglomeration of wireless technology, the internet, and microelectromechanical systems which in effect brings together information technology and operational technology.

While there are many potential benefits of machine to machine interaction, the Internet of Things presents new frontiers of cyber attacks. These networks are vulnerable to attacks which could bring down business and cripple essential operations such as hospital functions. The possibilities of extortion are also rife. Take, for instance, a person with a pacemaker with connectivity functions. Hackers who get into the pacemakers network could malfunction the device for ransom.

With attacks such as these imminent, it would not be entirely bonkers to predict that cybersecurity experts will shift their focus to protect the networks of appliances in a bid to avert catastrophe. It would not be farfetched predict further that 2019 will witnesses one such internet of things attack. In tandem, there would be an increased demand for cybersecurity protections such as VPNs reviewed by VPNpro.

2. Businesses Will Take Commercial Cybersecurity Protective Measures

Data breaches dented the reputations of a few large corporations in the United States in 2018. After an international uproar, boardrooms are alive with talks of data security and privacy concerns. While most have implemented new privacy policies, some of the smaller business have yet to improve their cybersecurity protective measures. Perhaps what this business fail to understand is that hacker or cybersecurity criminal do not discriminate by size. They will attack any business model as long as there is sensitive data to be breached. Upon this realization, small business will have to take up the same protective measures as big businesses.

3. Global Privacy Regulations

Owing to the massive data breaches that have bedevilled last year cyberspace, there has been a move by many countries to provide for a privacy law that exceeds local boundaries. The GDPR oversaw changes happen in the law regulating privacy in Europe while PIPEDA in Canada marked a transnational privacy law. Even so, the cyberspace is still rigged with threats that have not been adequately addressed by the subsisting laws.

The signs of global regulation of privacy are all around us. Recently, the United States has started working closely with the European Union to regulate information flow, custodianship, and privacy. The summoning of Zuckerberg to Canada and UK parliament also shows that thing is getting thick. Privacy concerns have also captured the attention of the United Nations.

A combination of all these factors will inevitably lead to a global regulatory framework on privacy. This may occur in the form of a brand new global legislation such as one from the European Union or United Nations, a merger of existing international policies, or in as a Privacy Shield.

4. The Death of Crypto

Cryptocurrency has received a lot of acclaim in the recent past. Cryptocurrency trading has made investors a ton of money while some have lost significant amounts through the collapse of crypto markets. Nevertheless, the industry is still one lucrative goose. The absence of strong legal frameworks supporting the idea of cryptocurrency and the semblance of anonymity characteristic of blockchains has left the industry vulnerable. This is why it has become a target for hackers. Cryptojackers, as they as famously dubbed, have struck several times in 2018 and are rumoured to have caused the collapsed of the Bitcoin exchange in Japan. Bitcoin has since recovered but is not as robust.

Cryptocurrency continues to fight a war with itself. Its decentralized nature, anonymity, and the lack of government involvement have denied the technology the legitimacy it would have otherwise acquired. With frequent attacks, minimal government support, and a fluctuating market, the demise of cryptocurrency is nigh.

Conclusion

The two warring sides, the protagonists and antagonists of the cyberspace, have been in constant conflict from the outset. As the facts reveal, the antagonists, that is hackers and those akin, are a foot ahead of the good guys. Will 2019 be any different?