In 
1. Growth of new mobile malware will continue in 2014
In the last two quarters reported, new PC malware growth was nearly flat, while appearances of new Android samples grew by 33%. With businesses and consumers continuing their shift to mobile, we expect to see ransomware aimed at mobile devices, attacks targeting near-field communications vulnerabilities, and attacks that corrupt valid apps to expropriate data without being detected.
2. Virtual currencies will fuel malicious ransomware attacks
McAfee expects attacks such as CryptoLocker to proliferate for as long as such attacks remain (very) profitable. McAfee also expects to see new ransomware attacks aimed at enterprises that will purport to encrypt key corporate data assets. Consumers and enterprises that keep their antimalware (both endpoint and network) systems current will be relatively safe from this threat. An effective backup system, be it personal or enterprise deployed, will also isolate victims from most of the negative consequences of ransomware.
3. Sophisticated attacks like sandbox-aware will rise
A popular evasion technique that will see broad adoption by cybercriminals in 2014 is the use of sandbox-aware attacks that do not fully deploy unless they believe they are running directly on an unprotected device. Other popular attack technologies that will be further developed and deployed in 2014 include return-oriented programming attacks that cause legitimate applications to behave in malicious ways.
Enterprise IT organizations will need to respond to this new set of tactics to ensure their defenses are not completely dependent upon security measures that can be readily defeated by global cybercriminal gangs.
4. Social attacks will be ubiquitous by the end of 2014.
Social platform attacks attacks will mimic the tactics of legacy malware such as Koobface and simply use the social platforms as a delivery mechanism.
In 2014, however, we also expect to see attacks that employ the unique features of the social platforms to deliver data about user contacts, location, or business activities that can be used to target advertising or perpetrate virtual or real-world crimes.
One of the most common platform attacks simply steals users’ authentication credentials, which are then used to extract personal data from unsuspecting “friends” and colleagues. The Pony botnet,1 which stole more than two million passwords from users of Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and others, is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Preventing both the social platform and false flag attacks will require increased vigilance by individuals and enterprise policies and solutions to ensure employee use of the social media platforms does not result in material data breaches.
5. New PC, server attacks will target vulnerabilities above & below the OS
The new attacks we’ll see in 2014 will not simply attack the operating system, but will also exploit vulnerabilities both above and below the OS. Many of the new PC attacks in 2014 will exploit vulnerabilities in HTML5, which allows websites to come alive with interaction, personalization, and rich capabilities for programmers. As many HTML5-based applications are designed for mobile devices, we expect to see attacks that will breach the browser sandbox and give attackers direct access to the device and its services.
In the corporate environment mitigating these low-level attacks will require deploying hardware-assisted security measures that also operate below the operating system level.
6. Evolving threat landscape will dictate adoption of big data security analytics
In 2014 security vendors will add new threat-reputation services and analytics tools that will enable them and their users to identify stealth and advanced persistent threats faster and more accurately than can be done today. Big Data analytics will allow security practitioners to identify the sophisticated advance evasion technique attacks and advanced persistent threats that can disrupt mission critical business processes.
7. Deployment of cloud-based corporate apps will create new attack surfaces
Cybercriminal gangs of the 21st century will target cloud-based applicationsand data repositories because that’s where the data is, or will be soon enough. This could be through business applications that have not been assessed by IT against corporate security policies.
Large enterprises may have sufficient leverage to require cloud providers to put security measures in place. Smaller consumers of cloud-based services, however, will not and will need to carefully review the provider’s often ambiguous user agreement as it relates to security and data ownership. New cloud services may also expose new attack surfaces until the services reach a level of maturity that includes the instrumentation and countermeasures required to ensure the security of the data they must protect.
Add new comment