Every day we read articles in the media about new technologies, once reserved for sci-fi. The connected home, connected cars, hover boards are all now beginning to become a reality. But as exciting as this is, how safe are they? Hackers are seeing these new technologies as big opportunities.
Those who make these technologies must also secure them for us.
With this in mind, here are my top tech predictions for the coming months:
This year will see the use of contactless payments and the risks associated with them increase
It is now impossible to order a new credit or debit card in the UK which isn't contactless. Yet, as we enjoy waving these contactless cards and paying for purchases with a flick of our wrists, most of us are unaware of the associated risks.
With more contactless cards than ever before hitting the highstreets and being used for online shopping, the opportunity for fraudsters to steal money from unsuspecting consumers has increased. Contactless cards are vulnerable and an increase in malicious intent will mean banks will need to work harder than ever in 2017 to protect our money.
Autonomous vehicles will change the world's roads in 2017 and many drivers could lose their jobs
Autonomous vehicles are set to change the world's roads in 2017, affecting not only consumers but also every stage of the automotive manufacturing process from design through to the supply chain.
Plans to test autonomous lorries in the UK may have recently been stalled but trials of these vehicles are already in place in other European countries, including Germany. The lorries are electronically linked together, with a lead vehicle, which is manned by a human setting the pace and direction. I predict these connected lorries will change the logistics sector drastically by making the roads safer and could remove the need for many drivers.
Machines will steal more human jobs than ever with 30% of the working population needing to be retrained
We will continue to see a rise in digital technology over the coming years, and this year will be the year we see the likes of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated vehicles take the place of low-skilled workers.
With machines pushing humans out of a number of jobs including, logistics drivers and factory workers, we could see an increased emphasis placed on the retraining of up to 30 per cent of our working population. People want and need to work and those workers who have lost their jobs through digitalisation, will start to filter across a variety of other sectors including manufacturing and labour.
The threat of uncontrolled airspace will be reduced by refining and developing new laws within the next year
Both the UK government and businesses spend millions of pounds a year on security, whether this is to protect sensitive information or the physical security of the general public, but what is being done to stop a potential drone attack? Currently, not a lot.
Drones must be embraced and feared in equal measure. Combined with 3D printing, drones can be easily configured and adapted to support any kinds of use case. Putting it bluntly, these devices are in fact, flying payload systems with the ability to deliver anything (including incendiary devices or grenades) in to uncontrolled airspace.
Drones pose a very real security threat to society and subsequently, I believe 2017 will see the UK government reduce the threat of uncontrolled airspace by refining and developing new laws to protect against hostile drones.