[state of the internet] / security: A Year in Review

Letter from the Editor

What a year it’s been. If you are reading this — we made it to December 2020.

Just as the ink started to dry on those first pages of 2020, we opened up our first report with this:

As we look forward to the year ahead, the staff that produces the State of the Internet / Security report really only has one resolution — evolve. It’s an interesting mandate, because we’re not the only ones evolving. Criminals have started to evolve, and their attacks are getting more ambitious by the day.”

No one could have predicted how much the world would “evolve” in the upcoming months.

This end-of-year report is our attempt to review a year that seems to have more chapters than your favorite book series. We look back at the reports that both were and weren’t, and how COVID-19 impacted not only internet security and traffic, but the team as well.

Working with this team, through a pandemic, has really been nothing short of incredible. We did have the benefit of already working together remotely, since our team is spread out across Massachusetts, Indiana, and Florida, so we were able to transition into a “fully remote” team pretty seamlessly.

But what makes this team amazing is that we really were able to be there for each other, not just as coworkers, but as humans who were also living through a pandemic. Mental health days became something we all actively took, and asking how we were actually doing became a part of our weekly meetings.

We couldn’t pretend the world wasn’t changing. So, we didn’t.

The silence between the releases speaks volumes. The State of the Internet / Security, Volume 6, Issue 1 (Hostile Takeovers — Financial Industry) report was published in February 2020, while the release of the State of the Internet / Security Special Media Edition got pushed to July 2020. The Special Media edition was meant to be published as part of our presence at NAB Show in April — which, like so many other events, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.

“You Can’t Solo Security” and “Loyalty For Sale” were released about a month apart. We worked hard, we pivoted, and it’s incredible to be able to see what this team was able to accomplish this year.

Thank you for continuing to read and support the State of the Internet / Security report. COVID-19 showed us that the world truly is online — and if it wasn’t online before 2020, it is now. Internet security is now more vital than ever, and as we close out this year’s chapter, we must continue to be vigilant as we turn the page into 2021.

Stay safe,

Amanda Goedde
Managing Editor