Sophisticated and targeted attacks on the horizon

As 2013 draws to a close, Gavin Millard a security expert from Tripwire gazes into his crystal ball and predicts what 2014 has in store for us.

Targeted mobile attacks will significantly increase

In 2014 I believe we are going to witness a further increase in attacks on smartphones – in particular those on the Android platform. Android was recently identified as the third most attacked application of 2013, behind Java and Windows components, and this will undoubtedly continue in 2014.

I believe the attacks on smartphones will become much more targeted. Hackers are aware of the confidential financial and Personal Identifiable Information (PII) these devices hold and the lax approach to security many take on mobile, which will lead to attempts to extract this information and use it for their own financial gain. Attackers will continue to find ways to intercept text messages to undermine two-factor authentication based on SMS.

A move towards TOR used in malware

With the continued use of TOR (The Onion Router), we will see an increase in malware authors utilizing it to further cover their tracks. The use of TOR as a way to command and control infected systems is currently quite rare, but will become commonplace as more toolkits start to support it. This will lead to further complications detecting and shutting botnets down.

More attacks on “the internet of things’

Over the next 12 months I predict we will see more attacks on the “Internet of Things”. This will largely be as a result of the number of less traditional devices like televisions, cars and more worryingly CCTV cameras and medical devices being connected to the web. Hackers will use these as new objects to attack and control to further their reach into our everyday lives.