12th December 2011

Trend Micro 2012 Threat Predictions

Trend Micro CanadaThe New Year will see cyber-criminals act with even more persistence and sophistication, as the world continues to shift from the PC-centric desktop toward mobile and cloud computing. IT administrators will be driven to approach security with a data-centric framework – protecting the data, not just the systems — according to Trend Micro’s threat researchers and analysts around the globe. The company has just released its “12 Threat Predictions for 2012” report.

Trend Micro’s “12 Threat Predictions for 2012” include:

1. The real challenge for data center owners will be the increasing complexities of securing physical, virtual, and cloud-based systems.

While attacks specifically targeting virtual machines (VMs) and cloud computing services remain a possibility, attackers will find no immediate need to resort to these because conventional attacks will remain effective in these new environments. Virtual and cloud platforms are just as easy to attack but more difficult to protect. The burden will fall on IT administrators to secure their company’s critical data as they adopt these technologies.

2. Security and data breach incidents will force companies worldwide to face BYOD-related challenges.

The Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) era is here to stay. With more corporate data stored or accessed by devices that are not fully controlled by corporate IT departments, the likelihood of data loss incidents caused by improperly secured personal devices will rise.

3. Security vulnerabilities will be found in legitimate mobile apps, making data extraction easier for cybercriminals.

Mobile platform threats usually come in the form of malicious apps, but in the future, Trend Micro expects cybercriminals to go after legitimate apps, finding vulnerabilities or coding errors that can lead to data exposure or theft.

4. More hacker groups will pose a bigger threat to organizations needing to protect highly sensitive data.

Online groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec rose to prominence in 2011, targeting companies and individuals for various political reasons. These groups are likely to become even more motivated in 2012. They will become more skilled both at penetrating organizations and avoiding detection.

5. The new social networking generation will redefine “privacy.”

Young social networkers have a different attitude toward protecting and sharing information: They are more likely to reveal personal information online to a wider audience beyond their friends. In time, privacy-conscious people will become the minority—an ideal prospect for attackers.

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 12th, 2011 at 7:46 am and is filed under Business News, National News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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