When we talk about the future of IT, we can talk about two things: things we know for certain are coming based on clear current patterns, and things we are anticipating, but that will be ever-evolving and growing realities. For example, increased ransomware attacks is in the first category. Advanced machine learning is in the second.

Both are part of our list of trends for the coming year. Of course, it can't be comprehensive; IT technology trends change with the creation of new devices and ideas, and those occur all the time. But this list is here to give you an idea of where your business security is headed, and to point you in the right direction to make sure you stay ahead of the game.

IT Trends for 2017 to Get Familiar With Today

Because the scope of how technology trends can affect you and your business is so massive, we've broken our predictions down into three smaller categories.

Attack trends
Business trends
Innovation trends

Let's start with the attacks.

1. The Continued Rise of Ransomware

This isn't going away. Cases of ransomware exploded in late 2015 and early 2016. While everyone adjusts and most businesses have recognized the extreme danger, there's still a huge risk for anyone on your network who might not be properly educated on how to avoid this type of attack or on what to do when they experience the encrypted file warning and scary note combination for the first time.

2. Enhanced IoT Device Security

Alex Insley, Twinstate's Unified Defense Strategies technical manager, brings up the rise in DDoS attacks initiated by botnets that used IoT devices such as DVRs, cameras, and other, typically non-computer like devices.

Part of the major risk associated with IoT devices is that not only do consumers largely ignore those risks, but they also expect manufacturers to be diligent about protection. As of today, that's not the case. But Insley believes that if consumers and the industry demands it, "vendor responsibility for security will become more important and prominent."

Recommended Read: 6 Internet of Things Security Challenges

3. Social Engineering

Social engineering, an attack vector that capitalizes on human interactions and vulnerabilities, has been around forever. And it's not going anywhere soon. Today, scams range from classic physical hacks — such as the hacker pretending to be a repairman and convincing you to let him into the server room — to sophisticated phishing attacks, such as a wire transfer request email "from" your CEO.

Awareness training is your best course of action if you want to stay abreast of this continuing trend.

Business Trends

4. Comfort with the Cloud

The cloud's been around for a long time. But only just now are small and medium businesses starting to get truly comfortable.

"I think that SMBs are starting to see cloud as a lot more affordable, convenient and realistic, especially with Office 365 being as popular as it is," says Insley. "It used to be less realistic or too expensive, and other solutions required you to have stuff on premise. Today, cloud is really an option. You have Google apps for business, you have Amazon web services, and you have Azure," he says.

Importantly, protecting your assets in the cloud is just as necessary as it was to protect your in-office network, Insley notes. Twinstate is a Sophos Gold Partner; Sophos has trusted options for virtual firewalls. That's a good place to start with protection, if you're looking to stay with the times.

5. Adaptive Security Architecture

As Michael Cooney writes for Network World and Layer 8, "The intelligent digital mesh and related digital technology platforms and application architectures create an ever-more-complex world for security." New remediation tools and processes for dealing with the IoT will need to be integrated on a dime. That means your architecture will be developed for adaptive function, so you can move more quickly to address new challenges.

Innovation Trends

6. Chatbots

Messaging and conversation technology could really be in both the business and innovation categories. Either way, prepare yourself. There are going to be a lot of chatbot interactions soon incorporated into your everyday life. That brings us to the innovation trend that brought us chatbots: advanced machine learning.

7. Advanced machine learning

Cooney writes, "Artificial intelligence and advanced machine learning are composed of many technologies and techniques (such as deep learning, neural networks, natural-language processing). The more advanced techniques move beyond traditional rule-based algorithms to create systems that understand, learn, predict, adapt and potentially operate autonomously." That gives rise to two other trends Gartner has identified as headed our way in 2017: Intelligent apps and intelligent things.

Keeping Pace with Technology

Keeping up with the major changes and advancements in tech is impossible on even a day-to-day level. Growth is exponential. But if you want to at least stay informed about what could soon emerge, we highly suggest combing through these Gartner predictions. At the very worst, you'll walk away understanding the vernacular, and that's a step in the right direction.