In 2013 people are going to have a harder time managing the security of their devices. Different operating platforms, interfaces and security systems will make it more challenging to manage cyber espionage which will escalate to more destructive attacks. The coming year will definitely see more clever use of legitimate services for illegal activities. As digital technology gets embedded in our daily lives, security threats are guaranteed to show up in the least expected places.
In yesterday’s more uniform computing environment, it was relatively easy to educate users because fewer device types were in use. The same basic advice worked for everyone. Not in 2013. Today, each device, each mobile platform requires a different approach to security. With the growth of the Android platform, the threat of malicious and high risk apps for its users also goes up.
In 2013, Trend Micro predicts that the number of malicious Android apps will triple from 350,000 by the end of this year to more than one million.
Businesses, meanwhile, are grappling with protecting intellectual property and mission-critical information as they tackle consumerization, virtualization and cloud platforms head-on. While corporations have significantly benefited from moving their computing needs to the cloud, legitimate cloud-based services have benefited cyber criminals as well – providing them with opportunities to gain, profit, steal information and sabotage their targets’ operations.
Below are Trend Micro’s predictions for 2013:
- The volume of malicious and high-risk Android apps will hit one million in 2013.
- Windows 8 offers improved security—but only to consumers.
- Cybercriminals will heavily abuse legitimate cloud services.
- As digital technology plays a larger role in our lives, security threats will appear in unexpected places.
- Consumers will use multiple computing platforms and devices. Securing these will be complex and difficult.
- Politically motivated electronic-based attacks will become more destructive.
- Cloud storage or not, data breaches will remain a threat in 2013.
- Efforts to address global cybercrime will take two or more years to reach full implementation.
- Conventional malware threats will only gradually evolve, with few, if any, new threats. Attacks will become more sophisticated in terms of deployment.
- Africa will become a new safe harbor for cybercriminals.
Click here to find out more about Trend Micro’s 2013 predictions
MORE COVERAGE OF 2013 PREDICTIONS