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This year has had its share of cybersecurity bombshells. Cybersecurity vendor McAfee revealed widespread theft of government data over the past five years. Now the hacker group Anonymous has threatened to take down the New York Stock Exchange's computers .
Expect more of the same in 2012, maybe even worse. So says a new report (pdf) from the Georgia Tech Information Security Center.
So-called search poisoning will emerge. That's where a cyber attacker inserts a virus or spyware into your search results.
Beware of Mobile Web-based attacks as well. Mobile phones have always been relatively insecure. Now that so many people use them to surf the Web and store sensitive data, they've become a prime target for hackers.
The Georgia Tech report also cautions against the use of hijacked computers, called botnets, to steal personal information from your online accounts and then sell that info to marketers.
Your best defense is common sense. Update your passwords and antivirus software regularly. And play it safe when surfing the Web from your phone. Stick with app stores and other sites you know and trust.
—Larry Greenemeier
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5 Comments
Add CommentI've never been sure if these companies that sell hacker protection software are not also the cause of the problem as well. Call me paranoid.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt makes sense that those renting out the fire brigades would make more money if they also set fires.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs that prediction anything like; "2012 to have hurricanes! Insurance recommended."?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCuz, like I'm really curious.
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It is unfortunate that this brief article includes the catastrophically wrong admonishment to change passwords arbitrarily. Having a solid, hard to guess password is far better than changing passwords regularly. You should only change passwords if you know or suspect yours has been compromised. Let me give an example;
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJoe Public regularly changes his password. This means either his passwords have to be easy to remember or guess because otherwise he will forget or he must write the password down so the cleaning crew or co-worker at work or a friend or family member at home can find and read it, thus destroying it's value. If he doesn't write it down he probably is using a pet name or family member name or favorite phrase. Anyone that knows him can probably figure it out after a few tries.
Let us suppose someone figures out his password. He eventually changes it so they go through the same process and in a matter of minutes or a day or two they have his new password. Maybe he uses good patterns for his password so it is harder to guess this time. Think he is safe? Nope. The person compromising his security implanted a root key and included a key logger so every time he changes passwords the new password is sent to the hacker scum and changing it has no impact or benefit at all.
You should use a different password for entertainment than you use for important transactions such as pharmacy or financial activity but changing passwords decreases security a lot. I've used the same password for important things for 8 years with no trouble.
A network admin friend of mine that changes his every month has been hacked 3 times so far this year. Which is the more secure option?
PS. My password is based on the name of a character from a book that I no longer remember the title or author of. I only have to remember 1 thing - the actual name of the character modified to meet secure password standards. Eight years of security and counting. It doesn't hurt to avoid porn sites either.
,,,or one could use a computer that doesn't have Active X controls, which is the easiest means of entry to your computer and is on all Micro soft systems.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou can guess which computer system is therefore immune,,,