2017 has been a bit of a nightmare for many companies with the amount and scale of online protection breaches. Between Wannacry shutting down the UK's health service, the Equifax data leak and the ongoing Russian election interference, digital warfare has taken a whole new face over the past 12 months.

For the personal internet user and shopper, this can seem scary. Especially, as more and more of our devices become interconnected via the ever expanding IoT. What steps, and what tech, can you take and use to protect yourself through 2018?

Identity Protection

Many technological security solutions form a passive barrier. Regular checking of their status is necessary, but they do the hard work. Identity protection, on the other hand, is a crucial bit of kit - it enables you to navigate life and all its transactions whilst keeping your identity safe. For this purpose, industry professionals AAA Credit Guide have advocated the use of identity protection services. Companies providing these services use biometric data and randomized passwords, starting with the likes of LastPass and have flourished, using bank-level encryption and investing profits in new levels of user security safeguards.

Cloud Access Security Brokers

Lots of people base their entire lives upon cloud-hosted applications these days. Intersectionality comes where crucial information is stored between devices; intrepid hackers and identity thieves can piece together your information to create a full profile in pursuit of fraudulent activities. CASBs, as the acronym goes, provide a single point of access to manage and mitigate threats against your online activities seamlessly.

Blockchain Becoming Basic

Blockchain is the crafty basis upon which bitcoin is based. It involves complicated blocks organized into chains - hence the name. The access to any part of this chain is governed by passwords and encryption, again at 256-bit or bank-level encryption. Blockchain is a clever technology that is now being used for consumer level protections by companies, even rolling out across the varied medical industry where the inherent confidentiality of records, yet requirement for data sharing, makes it a perfect option.

Internet security is the buzzword for 2017 and 2018 is looking to innovate it in big ways to prevent a repeat of this year’s errors. The technologies and trends above are some of the key ways in which these companies are fighting the seeming tide of hackers and security threats to keep your own personal information and credentials safe.