Beware! The 9 top cyber threats for 2011

Cyber security continues to be a grey area and one could say that the threat perception has always been on upward swing.

The year 2010 saw the deadly Stuxnet worm among others shaking up the security system.

The year 2011 is not expected to be any different as cyber criminals will look to target major platforms such as Adroid, Apple software and those which have not yet been exposed to a security risk.

In addition to this 2011 will also see politically motivated attacks as groups are expected to repeat the WiKiLeaks paradigm.

McAfee has outlined the top threats for the year 2011 and the list comprises Google's Android, Apple's iPhone, foursquare, Google TV and the Mac OS X platform, which are all expected to become major targets for cybercriminals.

Click on NEXT to read about the top cyber threats for 2011...

URL-shortening services

Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have created the movement towards an "instant" form of communication, a shift that will completely alter the threat landscape in 2011.

Of the social media sites that will be most riddled with cybercriminal activity, McAfee Labs expects those with URL-shortening services will be at the forefront.

The use of abbreviated URLs on sites like Twitter makes it easy for cybercriminals to mask and direct users to malicious websites.

With more than 3,000 shortened URLs per minute being generated, McAfee Labs expects to see a growing number used for spam, scamming and other malicious purposes.

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Geolocation services

Locative services such as foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places can easily search, track and plot the whereabouts of friends and strangers.

With just a few ...

Mobile

Threats on mobile devices have so far been few and far between, as "jailbreaking" on the iPhone and the arrival of Zeus were the primary mobile threats in 2010.

With the widespread adoption of mobile devices in business environments, combined with historically fragile cellular infrastructure and slow strides toward encryption, McAfee Labs predicts that 2011 will bring a rapid escalation of attacks and threats to mobile devices, putting user and corporate data at very high risk.

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Apple

Historically, the Mac OS platform has remained relatively unscathed by malicious attackers, but McAfee Labs warns that Mac-targeted malware will continue to increase in sophistication in 2011.

The popularity of iPads and iPhones in business environments, combined with the lack of user understanding of proper security for these devices, will increase the risk for data and identity exposure, and will make Apple botnets and Trojans a common occurrence.

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Applications

New Internet TV platforms were some of the most highly-anticipated devices in 2010.

Due to the growing popularity among users and "rush to market" thinking by developers, McAfee Labs expects an increasing number of suspicious and malicious apps for the most widely deployed media platforms, such as Google TV.

These apps will target or expose privacy and identity data, and will allow cybercriminals to manipulate a variety of physical devices through compromised or controlled apps, eventually raising the effectiveness of botnets.

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Sophistication Mimics Legitimacy

Your next computer virus could be from a friend.

Malicious content disguised as personal or legitimate emails and files to trick unsuspecting victims will increase in sophistication in 2011.

"Signed" malware that imitates legitimate files will become more prevalent, and "friendly fire," in which threats appear to come from your friends but in fact are viruses such as Koobface or VBMania, will continue to grow as an attack of choice by cybercriminals.

McAfee Labs expects these attacks will go hand in hand with the increased abuse of social networks, which will eventually overtake email as a leading attack vector.

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Botnets: The new face of mergers & acquisitions

Botnets continue to use a seemingly infinite supply of stolen computing power and bandwidth around the globe.

Following a number of successful botnet takedowns, including Mariposa, Bredolab and specific Zeus botnets, botnet controllers must adjust to the increasing pressure cybersecurity professionals are placing on them.

McAfee Labs predicts that the recent merger of Zeus with SpyEye will produce more sophisticated bots due to improvements in bypassing security mechanisms and law enforcement monitoring.

Additionally, McAfee Labs expects to see a significant botnet activity in the adoption of data-gathering and data-removal functionality, rather than the common use of sending spam.

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Hacktivism: Following the WikiLeaks path

Next year marks a time in which politically motivated attacks will proliferate and new sophisticated attacks will appear.

More groups will repeat the WikiLeaks example, as hacktivism is conducted by people claiming to be independent of any particular government or movement, and will become more organised and strategic by incorporating social networks in the process.

McAfee Labs believes hacktivism will become the new way to demonstrate political positions in 2011 and beyond.

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Advanced Persistent Threats: A whole new category

Operation Aurora gave birth to the new category of advanced persistent threat (APT) - a targeted cyberespionage or cybersabotage attack that is carried out under the sponsorship or direction of a nation-state for something other than pure financial/criminal gain or political protest.

McAfee Labs warns that companies of all sizes that have any involvement in national security or major global economic activities should expect to come under pervasive and continuous APT attacks that go after email archives, document stores, intellectual property repositories and other databases.