Top 3 Security Forecasts For 2010 by IBM's X-Force Research Team
The year of 2009 is drawing to a close. Today we celebrate Thanksgiving, in a little while we’ll be celebrating Christmas Eve and New Year’s and before you know it it’s 2010. As computer users we look to 2010 with anticipation. On one hand we can hardly wait to see what new software applications will be launched and what steps forward technology will take. On the other hand we can’t but be intrigued what the bad guys will do.
There is one inescapable truth in the IT world: the bad guys will keep pushing out viruses, Trojans, adware, and other malware types. We need to keep our systems safe and protected in an ever-increasing threatscape. Speaking of an ever-increasing threatscape, what will happen to it in 2010? This year the threatscape saw a resurgence of worms and an increase in rogue security software applications. Will the bag guys stick to their habits in 2010?
We don’t know precisely what will happen in 2010. But IBM’s X-Force research team has a few predictions:
Pirated software will make users even more vulnerable
First of all people that use pirated software do not update it because they are afraid the update will render it unusable. Consequently they keep using a piece of software that is unpatched and vulnerable.
Secondly, pirated software comes with malware preinstalled. Most times the users do not realize it, thus exposing themselves to a whole bunch of security threats.
Social engineering attacks will become more sophisticated
Attacks on social networks keep getting more and more sophisticated – and this will continue in 2010. For example, cybercriminals use Twitter to distribute malware and LinkedIn for highly targeted attacks. In the next year it is expected that social network will keep getting attacked and that the attacks will be more refined.
The Cloud will become a more interesting target
In 2010 cybercriminals will presumably use the Cloud to increase their efficiency and effectiveness.
There is one inescapable truth in the IT world: the bad guys will keep pushing out viruses, Trojans, adware, and other malware types. We need to keep our systems safe and protected in an ever-increasing threatscape. Speaking of an ever-increasing threatscape, what will happen to it in 2010? This year the threatscape saw a resurgence of worms and an increase in rogue security software applications. Will the bag guys stick to their habits in 2010?
We don’t know precisely what will happen in 2010. But IBM’s X-Force research team has a few predictions:
Pirated software will make users even more vulnerable
First of all people that use pirated software do not update it because they are afraid the update will render it unusable. Consequently they keep using a piece of software that is unpatched and vulnerable.
Secondly, pirated software comes with malware preinstalled. Most times the users do not realize it, thus exposing themselves to a whole bunch of security threats.
Social engineering attacks will become more sophisticated
Attacks on social networks keep getting more and more sophisticated – and this will continue in 2010. For example, cybercriminals use Twitter to distribute malware and LinkedIn for highly targeted attacks. In the next year it is expected that social network will keep getting attacked and that the attacks will be more refined.
The Cloud will become a more interesting target
In 2010 cybercriminals will presumably use the Cloud to increase their efficiency and effectiveness.
