The year has barely started, and the cybersecurity world is already alight with fresh issues and new challenges. And there’s far more to come.

Welcome to issue three of Verdict Encrypt, where we’re looking at some of the hot topics and key concerns in cybersecurity right now, as well as looking at what lies ahead in 2018.

The twin challenges of Meltdown and Spectre have dominated headlines in the first few weeks of this year, revealing a shockingly widespread security flaw in microprocessors inside nearly all of the world’s computers. We look at the issue, and discover how fixes could bring fresh problems of their own.

Looking into the year ahead, the industry is set for a barrage of new challenges and developments that will require quick responses from organisations and smart solutions from cybersecurity professionals.

In an exhaustive but highly informative piece, we hear from 39 different experts in the field to find out what’s in store, with new IoT challenges, the emergence of AI and blockchain-led security solutions and an evolution of threats being particularly prominent predictions.

As the new year begins, this is also a time for companies to review their practices and consider whether they really are doing all they can to protect themselves from cybersecurity incidents. We look at how many companies are treating training as an exercise in compliance rather than a means to actually reducing breaches, and find out how a different take of training can transform company cybersecurity culture.

Small businesses are also a hot topic in cybersecurity at the moment, with many feeling unable to afford the level of protection they require. We look at what can be done to tackle the issue, and look at the data driving concerns.

2017 was the year that critical infrastructure attacks came into the spotlight, and 2018 may well be the year that we are rocked by a major incident. With this in mind, we look at how risks can be reduced, and discover how such attacks are relatively inevitable.

And if that wasn’t enough, we also look at the barriers to using machine learning in cybersecurity, find out how spear phishing is targeting the Winter Olympics and look at the newly reopened UK Cyber Demonstration Centre, as well as asking if privacy can only be achieved at the expense of security.

For all this and more, read on in this month’s Verdict Encrypt.

Lucy Ingham

Editor