lt cap,

I absolutely agree that technology follows the money. And the scarier and more visible security threats become, it is bound to attract big money more easily.  I think this might already be seen in things like skyrocketing valuations of newer, small cybersecurity stocks - PANW, Fireye, etc. The obvious bet is on demand growth going forward.

But I think also that money will follow the security: that is, for instance, it is known that 60 countries are developing AI autonomous battlefield weapons. (Why risk human life when a robot can fire 400 rounds a second with pinpoint accuracy, be less vulnerable to damage, etc.? The funny, well, not-so-funny thing is that 'accidents' with such weapons have already occurred - I think it was around 2005? 2009? S. Africa was developing a fast-firing AI machine gun that accidentally killed or wounded something like 9 of their own soldiers 'by accident' in a fraction of a second. Oops - back to the drawing board. But I digress.) What I mean is, what country is willing to give up development of AI weapons, some of mass destruction, when that hands their enemies a tremendous advantage? The US-China agreement on curbing industrial cyber spying seems a joke to me. The possibility of 'cheating' almost insures both sides will continue to do so. 'Security agreements' about development of such battlefieldweapons are likely to be worthless. We condemned Saddam for WMD's when in fact he had none - but despite it being outlawed by treaty, we have copious stockpiles of bacterial/nerve/chemical weapons just in case our enemies have them. My point is that where battlefield AI will be a weapons advantage, no one will really give up development of them for fear that their neighbors won't. So money gets poured into 'security' in the form (or promise) that our battlefield AI weapons will be superior to anything anyone else produces. The same forces that govern the stock market (fear and greed) will probably drive the AI weapons market. Mutual Assured Destruction, a policy of the last century that was finally deemed as an insane concept, is probably now in vogue again, in a new guise. Lockheed, anyone?