Full of Christmas dinner and looking for a way to keep you and your loved ones entertained while you wait for the next festive blockbuster to come on? We’ve got you covered with the Verdict Christmas technology quiz.

We’ve trawled through the top technology stories of the year to bring you a Christmas technology quiz covering everything from the biggest data breaches to the technologies that defined 2018.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Related Company Profiles

View all

The quiz is divided into six rounds of five questions, with the answers at the bottom of the page. And if you want to brag about your spectacular technology expertise, feel free to tweet us @VerdictUK.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at team Verdict. Let’s get on with the quiz!

Round one: Disasters and Data Breaches

2018 was the year the world woke up to cybersecurity, with a seemingly unending parade of high-profile breaches. But how much have you been paying attention?

  1. In November the Marriott hack saw the data of 500 million guests affected. But what subsidiary of the hotel giant was involved?
  2. What political data firm was embroiled in a high-profile breach involving Facebook this year?
  3. Data related to 380,000 card payments to which major airline was stolen by hackers in August?
  4. The biggest breach of the year saw the details of 1.1 billion citizens, including key ID and payment data, stolen from a government platform. But what country was it the government of?
  5. Fitness app MyFitnessPal saw a breach impacting 150 million users this year. But who is the parent company of MyFitnessPal?

Round two: Musk Madness

Perfect for members of the Teslarati, here’s a round dedicated exclusively to Elon Musk, the tech world’s answer to Tony Stark.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.
  1. What message was on the dashboard Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster that was sent hurtling towards Mars on a SpaceX rocket?
  2. Who was named the new chair of Tesla following Musk’s run-in with the Security and Exchange Commission?
  3. What invention did Musk take to aid the Thai cave rescue, drawing criticism from one of the rescue divers?
  4. In a Tweet, Musk said he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. How much did he calculate each share to be worth?
  5. How many flamethrowers did Musk sell to promote his Boring Company?

Round three: Bring on the Blockchain

Cryptocurrency and beyond: do you know the key goings on in the world of blockchain this year?

  1. The end of 2017 saw Bitcoin hit its biggest high of $19,783.21, but this year its value sunk like a stone. What was its lowest price to the nearest dollar in 2018?
  2. Which stock exchange in November became the first to operate a fully regulated and controlled blockchain exchange?
  3. With Bitcoin on the ropes, one cryptocurrency in particular has risen as a key alternative, seeing a growth in value of 66% in one week in December alone. Name the cryptocurrency.
  4. What challenging aspect of Brexit was blockchain proposed as a solution to by government ministers?
  5. Which computing legend announced he had built a new protocol for a decentralised platform for the web named Solid this year?

Round four: Autonomy and AI

Artificial intelligence has come on leaps and bounds in 2018, finding its way into many aspects of our lives. But have you been keeping up with the top AI stories this year?

  1. A piece of art created by an AI was auctioned for the first time in 2018, netting $432,500. But which auction house was it sold at?
  2. The use of facial recognition technology caused outrage when it was deployed at a major UK football match earlier in the year. Name the football club.
  3. An AI newsreader capable of taking over as anchor 24/7 was unveiled by a news agency in November. What country is it from?
  4. UK MPs on the education select committee heard evidence from a robot in a parliamentary hearing this year. What was the robot called?
  5. It was revealed at an AI recruitment tool that was developed but never deployed by a major tech company was biased towards men. What company was it developed by?

Round five: Social and Not So Social Media

It’s been a year of modest highs and dramatic lows for social media this year, but do you know the social movers from the biggest losers?

  1. Which social media influencer wiped $1.3bn off Snapchat’s stock market value after tweeting that they no longer used the messaging app?
  2. What percentage of Twitter accounts were deleted in a crack-down on bot accounts?
  3. Which two other tech giants did Facebook allegedly share users’ private messages with, as has emerged last week?
  4. Music streaming service Spotify celebrated which anniversary this year?
  5. How many people were affected by the data breach suffered by question-and-answer website Quora last month?

Round six: Know Your Tech Titans

These people are involved in some of the most important companies in the tech world, but do you know who they are? Name the person (and their job for a bonus point) in our picture round.

Christmas technology quiz

Ready to see how you’ve done? Scroll down for the answers.

The answers

Round one: Disasters and Data Breaches

  1. Starwood
  2. Cambridge Analytica
  3. British Airways
  4. India
  5. Under Armour

Round two: Musk Madness

  1. Don’t panic
  2. Robyn Denholm
  3. Mini-submarine
  4. $420
  5. 20,000

Round three: Bring on the Blockchain

  1. $3,194
  2. Gibraltar Stock Exchange
  3. Etherium
  4. Irish backstop
  5. Tim Berners-Lee

Round four: Autonomy and AI

  1. Christie’s
  2. Cardiff
  3. China
  4. Pepper
  5. Amazon

Round five: Social and Not So Social Media

  1. Kylie Jenner
  2. 9 million
  3. Netflix and Spotify
  4. 10 years
  5. 100 million

Round six: Know Your Tech Titans

  1. Demis Hassabis, founder and CEO, DeepMind
  2. Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook
  3. Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
  4. Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla, SpaceX
  5. John Carmack CTO, Oculus and co-founder, id Software
  6. Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon