Predictions About Cybersecurity Didn’t Come True In 2018

Government actions worldwide to tighten cybersecurity, widely predicted, didn’t happen in 2018. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation led to widespread forecasts that U.S. firms, used to playing fast and loose with individuals’ data, would get smacked with huge fines. “But we’re still waiting to see the EU drop the hammer on anybody—even Facebook,” writes Rob Pegoraro, in the Parallax. In the U.S., Congress took a hands-off approach to Big Tech and was unable to bestir itself to pass any substantial cybersecurity legislation despite the sense of urgency created by a number of major breaches. Expectations of action on the Internet of Things security went nowhere, and a bill to require that the federal government purchase only IoT gear meeting security standards died as well. On the bright side, forecasts of human harm resulting from sabotage of connected systems – “We expect cases of biohacking, via wearables and medical devices, to materialize in 2018,” Trend Micro predicted. “People will be injured or killed in 2018 due to a cyberattack/cyberterrorism,” Webroot chief technology officer Hal Lonas wrote – didn’t happen either. Maybe next year.