Some three quarters of security professionals polled suggest privacy and personal identity protection could be impossible even as consumers and businesses expand their social media and e-services use to record levels.

These findings outlined in San Francisco-based Black Hat USA's new research report, Where Cybersecurity Stands, compiled from Black Hat's Attendee Survey in May 2018, from more than 300 information security professionals. This year's report investigated hot topics including the rise in concern over privacy issues, election hacking, the U.S. Federal Government's ability to handle cyberthreats, nation state attacks, the buzz around cryptocurrency profit, and the belief that critical infrastructures is still increasingly at risk.

Among the survey respondents were chief executives, CISOs, CIOs, chief technology officers, security specialists and researchers from organizations in more than 20 sectors, ranging from financial services to healthcare to government.