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The world of tech is on an ever-faster train of evolution that seems to increase every year. While it’s inevitable this would happen with tech advancements, 2017 was an amazing year when it came to technology. It also held some controversies in this category.
Issues like data breaches, banking scams, cryptocurrencies, cloud takeover, and IoT were in the news. Technologies like AI and mobile were at the center of these, not including the emerging threat of net neutrality being overturned. Most of these technological issues are still pending, though net neutrality has already seen a possible future. Let’s review all of this and see what’s possible for 2018.
We all thought 2016 had enough data breaches, but 2017 nearly tripled the previous number. It’s reached a point where we’re seeing so many, most of the public likely isn’t aware of them because they don’t make the news. Recent statistics show that data breaches reach every business category from banks to healthcare. What’s most surprising is that the medical/healthcare category had 307 breaches within the last year, the highest of any other category. The data includes over four million patient records exposed. The future doesn’t look bright either when you consider cyber crime costs are going to hit $6 trillion in another four years. Breaches through 2017 alone are on par to exceed last year’s, with many of the worst occurring everywhere from E-Sports Entertainment Association to eBay.
We’re seeing a major push this year to increase security for data, particularly because hacking and data breach events that seem to occur weekly. It’s unfortunate that so many companies likely become hacked every day and don’t realize it until long after the fact. Gartner recently reported that data security spend is going to increase 7% this year alone and reach $86.7 billion.
No doubt you’ve been hearing about bitcoin this year and how it’s gone up in value. Ethereum is worth even more, but the rise in popularity could mean it’s going to become a mainstream currency. If 2017 was the year of cryptocurrency awareness, sources like Wired predict 2018 is going to become the real year of bitcoin and blockchain. We’ve certainly heard a lot about blockchain as well and what it could do to make e-commerce safer with more transparency. It’s up in the air whether bitcoin and ethereum become standard currencies in the near future. Still, the rush for better data security could make it happen.
We definitely saw more companies switch to the cloud throughout 2017 even though the cloud is certainly nothing new. For some companies, it’s taken a while to move to the cloud. Now, they realize the benefits in security and 24/7 accessibility. Forbes notes multi-cloud architecture is now becoming standard in many enterprises. With so many different types of cloud storage (public, private, and hybrid), expect to see more usage of continued data protection.
Otherwise known as IoT, The Internet of Things became ubiquitous in businesses and homes throughout 2017. At the heart of this is the smart home, and even the smart city. The latter is still emerging, but the smart home is already here. Smart devices can now control all of our home’s appliances for the ultimate in energy efficiency. The smart city will eventually increase this tenfold.
Other technologies we saw evolve in 2017 include artificial intelligence, which correlates directly to IoT above. AI has major predictions to become smarter in 2018 involving more personalized content, more use in autonomous vehicles, and uses in warfare. Mobile usage continued to rise in 2017 with more attention on mobile technology to reach consumers through marketing. More attention to mobile-friendly websites are also increasing to help mobile users find information faster. Then you have net neutrality that became a fourth-quarter story this year. At the time of this writing, the FCC voted down net neutrality rules, leaving the future of the Internet a big question mark. 2018 could possibly bring big changes for all users on the Internet.
Despite the rise of the above technologies, expect to see more constant change throughout 2018. It’s time to find expert IT professionals in the coming year to help you stay ahead of the game. Contact us today so see ho we can help you at Access One to acquire the best technology available to stay competitive.