Maybe it’s Better to Never Make Predictions, Especially About the Future

For the past several months social media and the Internet in general has been overloaded with all sorts of dire predictions about the future of the threat landscape. However, if all of these were taken at face value then organizations might as well either close up shop or go back to print advertising and taking orders by paper purchase orders. While these predictions can give us an insight of what “could” happen in the future they shouldn’t be allowed to become distractions from the tasks at hand - ensuring that 1) cyber security best practices are being implemented and being followed throughout the organization 2) the right technology is deployed where needed throughout the network and 3) preventive and predictive technologies are deployed in equal measure. This session will look back on some of 2018’s threat landscape predictions and how close (or far) from the mark they landed. Some of the predictions for 2019 will also be examined to see if any trends have developed year-on-year. Any predictions made during the session will follow the Winston Churchill rule: "I always avoid prophesying beforehand because it is much better to prophesy after the event has already taken place".