4 Cybersecurity Trends For 2018

There were several large-scale cyberattacks all over the world in 2017, and many think that such attacks will only increase in number and sophistication in 2018. In order to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals, the cybersecurity industry needs to come up with new plans in their war against cybercrime.

Experts say that the current battle raging between attackers and those who uphold cybersecurity will get more intense next year as each faction attempts to outmaneuver the other, which will lead to the development of certain cybersecurity trends for 2018 such as:

1. Machine learning will be used by both sides.

   Machine learning is giving computers the ability to learn without the need for programming. It is used in cybersecurity as a means to simultaneously identify and fix vulnerabilities, prevent attacks, and defend against hacks.

   In 2018, it is predicted that this technology will also be employed by cybercriminals to find the vulnerabilities and exploit them, to ward off defensive measures, and to make their attacks more difficult to predict.  

2. There will be a much higher demand for artificial intelligence.

   As cybercriminals develop more advanced methods to launch their attacks, those on the defensive side will seek to counter with the help of better artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Big-name cybersecurity companies will integrate more artificial intelligence into their products. This is in line with their efforts to enhance their detection capabilities and be more proactive in combating all form of cybersecurity threats.

3. Blockchain application will be more widespread.

   By design, blockchain breaks up data into chunks and distributes them over a decentralized network. This prevents attackers from accessing and compromising massive amounts of data all at once.

   As of now, blockchain is used mostly by the cryptocurrency market, but in 2018 things could be very different. By next year, there could be a major disruption in technology as more and more industries adopt the use of blockchain. Analysts surmise that the inherent security features of blockchain will see it incorporated by the banking industry, healthcare industry, legal industry, and stock exchanges, just to name a few.

4. Ransomware attacks will shift targets.

   Due to ransomware not being very profitable this year, cybersecurity professionals posit that the total number of attacks will decrease by 2018. However, they believe that this will be due to cybercriminals adjusting their methods: hitting fewer regular citizens and moving on to target high-yield entities such as businesses and worldwide conglomerates.

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