Fortinet Forecasts E-threats for 2010

Online security vendor 'Fortinet' issued a list of predictions for 2010 during the 3rd week of December 2009. The company states that there'll be continuous changes in security trends in 2010.

It (Fortinet) forecasts that a few of the 2009 rogue software will expand in 2010 such as ransomware and affiliate networks. It also expects that business models of fake software will increase in sophistication along with those of affiliate networks.

According to the company, there'll be increased sales of the latest Windows 7 Operating System, while the sales of XP will decline in 2010. As rich countries adopt Windows 7, malware ghettos will be created in the poor countries since cyber criminals will focus on the remaining Windows XP computers.

Malicious attacks against social-networking websites like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace will increase. Fortinet estimates that there are currently 350 Million accounts on Facebook with no indication of slowdown. This high user-base and data therefore proves extremely tempting for malware purveyors who would target them with their exploits.

Further, Internet games will continue to be the main targets during 2010. Websites for such games are widely visited in the Asia-Pacific countries. Disturbingly, these sites are not sufficiently secure. Over and above, the problem would become more severe as many users of these sites are younger people who would get exposed to skilled cyber criminals' assaults. Fortinet states that the problem isn't too big in the US, but it is a cause of major concern in the far east region.

Fortinet also predicts that botnets will not camouflage their malware to evade identification. Rather they will exploit means of legitimate communications for disguising and propagating operations, resulting in the dissemination of malware.

As organizations use cloud-based services, they become exposed to several vulnerabilities and risks. This happens because data moves to and from secured networks through a public channel that opens scope for data contamination and/or theft via the use of 'spyware.' Consequently, it will become ever more important to protect cloud-based software during 2010, forecasts Fortinet.

Hence, Web-surfers need to be wise while using the Internet during 2010.

Related article: Fortinet Pinpoints Ten Biggest Threats

» SPAMfighter News - 1/6/2010