Weekly Tech Roundup — November 14

In a week that the US Presidential election dominated the headlines, it can be easy to overlook important stories and emerging trends in information technology. Here are a few bellwether IT stories on tech topics that Acronis followed for you: on data protection in the era of the Internet of Things, ongoing growth in the cloud services and software-defined storage markets, and the continued proliferation of the virulent malware threat that is ransomware.

There are calls for more widespread data protection measures to ensure the digital security of IoT devices. Globally, apps and devices hold a lot of personal data, so it’s vital to have a plan to protect this information.

At the Data Privacy Asia 2016 conference in Singapore, Ann Cavoukian, executive director of the privacy and big data institute at Ryerson University, gave a presentation on the need for data protection policy, citing fears from the FTC over third-party monitoring from apps and parties, ZDNet Reported.

It’s not just about ensuring personal privacy protection, but raising awareness as well.

Cavoukian created the Privacy by Design framework for protecting online privacy. It was recognized by the International Conference of Data Protection Authorities and Privacy Commissioners in 2010.

It’s based on the idea that privacy and security do not have to compete with one another, and can actively coexist.

Companies would benefit from adopting this framework before the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation comes into effect May 2018.

By 2020, cloud traffic is expected to jump 262%, according to the Cisco Global Cloud Index. Cloud data is expected to reach a total of 14.1 ZB in 2020, which is a significant jump from 3.9 ZB last year.

Cloud traffic will grow globally over the next few years, but the biggest expansions into the cloud will be in the Middle East and Africa.

"The IT industry has taken cloud computing from an emerging technology to an essential scalable and flexible networking solution. With large global cloud deployments, operators are optimizing their data center strategies to meet the growing needs of businesses and consumers," said Doug Websters, vice president of service provider marketing at Cisco, TechRepublic reported. The increase comes as many people begin storing both consumer data and business data in the cloud, as well as the increased popularity of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.

RELATED: Building a Private Cloud for Backup Storage

Ransomware attacks continue to make the news around the county, the latest headline a shocking one. In Madison County, Indiana, government officials decided to pay the ransom on a ransomware attack that momentarily shut down government services.

"It's like when I came on in the 80s -- we're doing everything with pencil and paper," State Police Captain Dave Bursten said, describing the downtime caused by the attack, WTHR reported.

The cyberattack compromised computer systems, making daily operations impossible. The attack didn’t endanger the public or affect voting data, however.

Officials didn’t release the amount paid to these attackers, but said that it was much less than the public might have expected.

This year alone, the FBI expects cybercriminals will amass upwards of a billion dollars as a result of attacks like this one.

RELATED: What is ransomware 

Over the next five years, the Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 22.09%, hitting $81.381 billion by the end of 2021, Wise Guy Reports said in a press release.  This growth is a result of rapidly increasing demand for online storage.

Data centers are scaling up their infrastructures, making storage simple and effective. IT infrastructure plans are being rewritten as demand increases, and the changes are happening fast.

The rapid growth of the market can be attributed to the popularity of Software Defined Data Centers for their flexiblilty, simplicity and cost-effectiveness as well as their ability to rapidly adapt to changing conditions while still keeping their components unified and resources manageable.

RELATED: Universal Software-Defined Storage (SDS) – A Better Way to Manage Your Storage Infrastructure