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Checkpoint comes out with security projections for 2012
As security breaches continue to make headlines and the sophistication of today’s
Internet attacks grows more complex, organizations of all sizes are forced to
reevaluate their risk management strategies in light of emerging technology
trends and prescriptive compliance requirements.
Mobile computing has become a common method of business communication and administrators
are steadily beginning to accept the trend. However, IT administrators struggle
with securing the abundance of devices and different operating systems connecting
to the corporate network, and are challenged with establishing the appropriate
mobile and network access policies. According to Check Point research, 78 percent
of businesses reported there were more than twice as many personal devices connecting
to their corporate network compared to two years ago and 63 percent believe
this trend is related to the increase in security incidents.
Mobile devices are yet another threat vector for hackers to steal information
and gain access to sensitive information. Without the right precautions in place,
a hacker can upload a Trojan horse to a mobile device and within seconds, take
pictures every 20 seconds and capture sensitive data on the device’s screen
– including snapshots of SMS messages, emails, mobile web-browsing history
or your location, for example. The amount of variance for mobile-based malware
is expected to double, creating more attention and security awareness for mobile
threats in the coming year.
Popularity of QR Codes
Look familiar? Recently, more retailers and advertisers have begun to leverage
QR (Quick Response) Codes to encourage users to scan the barcode with their
mobile phone and obtain more information about the product. Check Point expects
this trend to rise in popularity, but users should be wary about QR codes that
may be dangerous. With a simple scan from your smartphone, a hacker can exploit
a QR code, redirecting the user to a malicious URL, file or application.
Rise in human intelligence and social engineering attacks
It’s important to emphasize the evolution of security for operating systems
has become more mature – and with the right security strategy and protection
in place, can help businesses withstand a wide number of threats. In 2012, we
expect to see more hackers looking for other ways to breach an organization…by
targeting the people.
Socially-engineered attacks traditionally target people with an implied knowledge
or access to sensitive information. In just a few minutes, hackers can populate
a host of information about an individual based on information users publically
share through these communication tools (i.e. Facebook to search and obtain
your name, birth date and social network of friends; Twitter to learn more about
your interests and community of followers; LinkedIn for employment information,
start date or education background; as well as FourSquare or Yelp for “check-ins”
and location based services – to name a few). Because social engineering
attacks have information that is customized to target an individual, it can
appear more legitimate.
Malware is big business
How much is it worth being a hacker today? Cybercriminals are no longer isolated
amateurs. They belong to well-structured organizations that resemble terrorist
cells - with money, motivation and goals. They can deploy considerable intelligence,
time and resources in order to execute botnets that can cost businesses millions.
Often, attackers will not attack a target unless it’s worth the time –
and often times won’t go to the trouble if the incident can’t be monetized.
Financial information is not the only valuable data worth stealing. Cybercriminals
tend to look for general customer information and less for specific billing
or credit card data. Such information can be very lucrative for hackers, enabling
them to customize future attacks or spam campaigns that increase the likelihood
of their success. And in some cases, social identities can be more valuable
to hackers than your actual credit cards. With over 800 million Facebook users,
most of whom are active and log on daily, social networking tools are opening
new doors for cybercriminals.
Botnets serve as the backdoor
Next year, botnets will become one of the most significant network security
threats facing organizations. Compromising anywhere from a few thousand to well
over a million systems, botnets are used by cybercriminals to take over computers
and execute illegal and damaging activities – such as stealing data, gaining
access to unauthorized network resources, initiating Denial of Service (DoS)
attacks or distributing spam.
In 2012, botnets will evolve using a combination of social engineering, zero-day
exploits, and will take advantage of the proliferation of mobile devices and
social networking. In addition, new botnet variants will be cross-platform and
companies can expect to see more Apple, Android and other mobile based botnets
pop up where they communicate to Command and Control servers (C&C) using
via 3G or Wi-Fi networks.
Spike in Businesses Migrating to IPv6
The pool of unallocated IPv4 addresses is shrinking rapidly with the last block
of IPv4 addresses from the ICANN Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) being assigned
on January, 31, 2011. Due to the impending shortage of IPv4 addresses, IPv6
is starting to be deployed widely. Architecturally, IPv6 presents its own security
challenges, including parts of the protocol that are different from IPv4 as
well as the transition mechanisms used to deploy it. However, for some companies,
IPv6 could already be running on enterprise networks without the knowledge of
the network administrators and may be used as a covert channel by hackers and
botnets. As more organizations migrate to IPv6 next year, companies should carefully
consider what is needed in order to make the transition to IPv6 securely.
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