2020 Cybersecurity Un-Predictions: Things That Won’t Happen Next Year

It’s that time of year: putting up festive holiday decorations, spending heartwarming quality time with family and friends, and… reading 2020 cybersecurity predictions. Countless lists and articles have popped up in our Twitter feeds, have came through our email inboxes, and have been presented on webinars this month. We performed a quick Google Search for ‘2020 cybersecurity predictions,’ and it yielded about 8 million search results, so it’s safe to say that predictions for next year are top of mind for the industry.

We decided to flip this idea on its head and have a little fun by putting an ask out to the industry:

What's your 2020 cybersecurity un-prediction of something that won't happen next year?

We categorized the responses and presented them on a webinar yesterday, the full recording is at the bottom of this post. It was delightful for us to read through the submissions, and we’ve included a roundup of the un-predictions below. 

2020 *Won’t* be the Year…

…Machine learning solves all our cybersecurity problems. — Luis, Sales Engineer

…Every company would be protected against ransomware. — Mike, Adviser

…That organizations reduce their cybersecurity budgets. — Samson, Risk Officer

Cybersecurity Un-Predictions: Changing Behaviors

We saw a handful of un-predictions related to changing behaviors in how the cybersecurity industry will work. 

2020 *Won’t* be the Year…

…Of Linux on desktop. — Heidi, Information Architect

…Of PKI. — Todd, Director Sales

…Everyone will use OpenPGP encrypted email. — Jules, Principal

Cybersecurity Un-Predictions: Marketing

Cybersecurity marketing un-predictions were top of mind (for us) as well. 

2020 *Won’t* be the Year…

…When the security industry decides to stop using “next-gen” or “military-grade” to describe new products in old categories. — Nathan, CMO

…That cybersecurity marketers request less contact information on a form. —Megan, Senior Director

…When endpoint security vendors will actually explain what their tools do, so customers can make informed purchasing decisions. — Lenny, CISO

Cybersecurity Un-Predictions: Election(s)

Un-predictions about the 2020 US election – and all elections for that matter – came through our webinar signup form. Spoiler alert: Russia is on everyone’s minds.

2020 *Won’t* be the Year…

…The Russians will stop interfering with sovereign governments. — Jason, Cybersecurity Risk Officer

…Russia will not interfere with the 2020 election. — Vasja, IT Manager 

…Russia cannot hack voting machines. — R., President

What does all this mean for cybersecurity in 2020?

5 Key Takeaways:

1. There are some fundamental security challenges that have been around a very long time, and that won’t be solved by technology alone.
2. Cybersecurity is an area where very few problems are actually solved for good, they just change shape.
3. People are resistant to change unless there’s enough incentive. No matter how good a technology may be, if there’s not enough motivation to change, we won’t.
4. Clear communication is incredibly important, yet rare. Communicating why a cybersecurity product is worth looking at, and communicating why an employee has to shut their laptop when they walk away are both good ways to reduce frustration.
5. When we do this again in 2020, we’ll probably be wrong. And hopefully, that means we’ll all be on hoverboards.

Watch the full webinar below: