Twitter: @proffitt_colby
Cyber predictions have become a pretty popular topic over the last decade. While each year’s predictions has followed a unique path to completion—and some have come to fruition while others have not—each has also ranged from the safe, obvious predictions, to the wild and radical. Predictions can be right or wrong, good or bad, helpful or unconstructive. Here’s a high-level set of criteria we developed before drafting our original list of 50, then ultimately cutting that list down to eight.
- Predictions must be bold and timely. On a scale of 1-10, where 1 equals safe and 10 is absolutely outrageous, we decided that our predictions should be somewhere between 8 and 9. They should make you stop and think, but they shouldn’t be so radical that they aren’t applicable to 2019 and the foreseeable future. Even if a radical prediction for the year 2160 turns out to be right, that’s not much use for the year 2020.
- Predictions must be rooted in fact. It’s important to support predictions with facts, research, analysis, and logic. We consulted with various subject matter experts (SMEs) across Forescout to understand the cyber past before attempting to predict the cyber future. Doing so allowed us to understand various trends across industries and engage with our SMEs to understand what needs and demands those trends may elicit in the coming years—from new threats and new technology to new cyber approaches, guidance and regulation.
- Predictions must be constructive and actionable. A good prediction should reveal something that makes you want to take action. With respect to time, that means that the predicted event or circumstance will occur as early as 2019 with an impact significant enough to make you want to prepare for it. And, the prediction should provide enough context to at least give you a starting point in your preparation efforts.
Our criteria are closely intertwined—to the point that when we started evaluating our list of 50, we often found that if a prediction failed to meet one aspect of our criteria, it often didn’t meet the requirements of the other two as well. Our list of eight has been thoroughly vetted and we feel confident that these predictions will not just make you stop and think, but will drive you to action. Read our cyber predictions here.
