This article reviews key technological trends of late as potential harbingers of a cyber war—those either emerging or maturing in the year 2017 and which, if left unchecked, could hasten a global cyber conflict with devastating effects for modern civilization. This is not a prediction of an imminent or inevitable world war, but rather a warning that cyber warfare requires a different mindset to analyze its potential and the technologies underpinning it. Some of these trends go directly to global conflict, while others speak to changes that affect the public’s perception of technology as it relates to privacy, security, and safety. Taken together, these trends hold the seeds of both internal and external collapse, the risk of which can only be mitigated if the public and private sectors work together to leverage technological innovation to advance their common societal interests.