Kaspersky Predicts Online Threats for 2010

According to the security experts from Kaspersky Labs, in the next year (2010) the form of cyber assaults against users will change from assaults launched through applications and websites to those launched via file-sharing or P2P networks.

The firm observed that attackers were popularly using the services due to their important role in distributing a large number of malicious infections, including for a very famous malware code for OS X.

Besides these, while there emerge new attack techniques, infections by malware would get sharper. Kaspersky forecasts that online attackers would employ rootkits along with other clandestine techniques in increasing instances to beat security vendors' malware detection software.

Kaspersky also says that there are many ways for modern cyber-criminals to make revenue via Internet by utilizing large volumes of Web-traffic generated through botnets. In the current times, it's mainly black-market services, which vie for exploiting botnet traffic.

However, in coming days, the security company thinks there would be an increasing number of grey campaigns in the market of botnet services. Already botnet owners, with the help of so-called "partner programs," are able to reap revenues from activities like dispatching spam, distributing malware or launching DOS attacks.

Additionally, the Kaspersky experts predict that the worst of fake anti-virus attacks might have already passed. The company stated that the market for rogue anti-virus has reached its saturation point, following which the monetary gains for the criminals have been declining, reported v3.com on December 16, 2009.

Kaspersky further stated that rogue anti-virus activity is receiving close monitoring from IT security firms as well as agencies for law enforcement. Consequently, creation and distribution of phony anti-virus software has become increasingly difficult.

It also noted that attacks against Google Wave would prosper during 2010. The pattern of attacks against this novel Google service will obviously be usual, including dispatching of spam e-mails, followed by launching of phishing assaults, and finally exploiting security flaws for the dissemination of malicious programs.

Eventually, "cyber terrorism" will be the other significant online threat during 2010, with the technical abilities already existing for such a threat, warns Kaspersky.

Related article: Kaspersky Released Malware Statistics for September 2008

» SPAMfighter News - 12/24/2009