Boldest Cybersecurity Predictions For 2016
Forget the boring, safe predictions for more of the same -- here instead are the most interesting, cringe-worthy, humorous, or otherwise shocking -- predictions for the coming year.
December 31, 2015
![](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt6d90778a997de1cd/bltf034f6376d20747c/64f0dbb76f550907322bcb5c/predictionimage1.jpeg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Yes, yes. We all know that in 2016 the Internet of Things is going to be kind of a big deal for security practitioners, that cyber espionage is a huge concern for the enterprise and that this will really, REALLY (for real this time) be the year that mobile malware makes a mark. At Dark Reading, we quite literally received over 60 pages of these kinds of boring predictions from techno-bloviators who just phoned it in with the prognostications this year. But amid all the allusions to the riskiness of the cloud (2012 retread, anyone?) and more cries of impending security talent shortages, there were some unique forecasts in the mix. Whether they were fun long-shot guesses, insightful projections, funny zingers, or otherwise off-the-wall prophecies, these were the boldest 2016 cybersecurity predictions to cross our paths before we could pop the champagne to close out another year.
To be fair, this prediction was prefaced with a "long-shot" descriptor tag, but it's still bold as heck. This comes from Ryan Olson, director of threat intelligence for Palo Alto Networks, who says that even though US citizens don't vote online, there are plenty of ways that a cyberattack could impact the outcome of an election-directly or indirectly--giving the election a "significant cyber 'nudge.'"
"An attacker may release embarrassing information about a candidate at a critical junction, swaying public opinion or forcing them to exit the race. Releasing private e-mails, photos or documents could be very damaging and could be accomplished using a simple phishing e-mail," says Olson, who notes that attackers could also hijack candidate's social media accounts or even hijack major news outlets to spread false information. "Voting machines are far from immune to attack, but I suspect this is the least-likely way the election will be impacted.
As the Chinese economy goes in the tank, experts with IID predict that many hackers in that country will shift from cyber espionage to cybercrime. They're expecting exponential growth in organized cybercriminal enterprises there.
"IID expects that by 2017 these "persistent criminal enterprises" will rival and ultimately surpass Eastern European organized cybercrime in scope, size and complexity," writes IID experts, who went so far as to predict the demise of the Russian Chinese Cyber Alliance by 2019 due to these growing cybercriminal organizations "aggressively targeting Eastern European citizens, companies and even rival cybercrime organizations."
Yes, yes. We all know that in 2016 the Internet of Things is going to be kind of a big deal for security practitioners, that cyber espionage is a huge concern for the enterprise and that this will really, REALLY (for real this time) be the year that mobile malware makes a mark. At Dark Reading, we quite literally received over 60 pages of these kinds of boring predictions from techno-bloviators who just phoned it in with the prognostications this year. But amid all the allusions to the riskiness of the cloud (2012 retread, anyone?) and more cries of impending security talent shortages, there were some unique forecasts in the mix. Whether they were fun long-shot guesses, insightful projections, funny zingers, or otherwise off-the-wall prophecies, these were the boldest 2016 cybersecurity predictions to cross our paths before we could pop the champagne to close out another year.
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