Trend Micro Predicts Targeted Attacks Will Proliferate Around the Globe

Trend Micro Incorporated yesterday released its annual security predictions report, “Trend Micro Security Predictions for 2015 and Beyond: The Invisible Becomes Visible”. Trend Micro’s threat defense experts are highlighting the report’s forecast that targeted attacks will become rampant from more countries and find success targeting victims globally. Additionally, the report breaks down seven other cybersecurity threat predictions for 2015 including banks and payment systems. These include:

• More cybercriminals will turn to darknets and exclusive-access forums to share and sell crimeware.
• Increased cyber activity will translate to better, bigger, and more successful hacking tools and attempts.
• Exploits kits will target Android, as mobile vulnerabilities play a bigger role in device infection.
• Targeted attacks will become as prevalent as cybercrime.
• New mobile payment methods will introduce new threats.
• We will see more attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in open source apps.
• Technological diversity will save Internet of Everything devices from mass attacks but the same won’t be true for the data they process.
• More severe online banking and other financially motivated threats will surface.

“The payment ecosystem will continue to evolve. There will be some large transformations in the years ahead and we expect to see threat actors trying to manipulate technologies such as Near Field Communications (NFC), Apple Pay and Google Wallet as these platforms gain momentum due to their significant following and user’s penchant for adopting the latest and greatest technology” said Robert McArdle, Advanced Threat Research Manager, Trend Micro EMEA.

Threats around banking will continue to become more severe as more unique cybercrime attacks against financial institutions also emerge and financial and banking intuitions must implement two-factor authentication for online services.

According to the report, targeted attack campaigns will continue to multiply in 2015, after cybercriminals had noteworthy breaches via targeted attacks in the U.S. Trend Micro’s threat defense experts predict hackers within countries such as Vietnam, UK, and India, will pursue the use of targeted attacks and we will see attacks against non-traditional countries like we’ve seen recently against Malaysia and Indonesia based organizations.

“What we are seeing today in terms of targeted attacks is not a huge surprise but the frequency of such attacks is definitely on the rise. One could say we are in a golden age for hacking, with so much of our personal and corporate data connected to the internet – all only a single mistake away from being in the hands of a criminal. “

“Following the success of targeted attacks from Chinese and Russian cybercriminals, many hackers from other countries will regard cyber-attacks as a more practical method to grab a foothold in an organisation, and will yield large cash sums and theft of data. Additionally, with the constant barrage of data breaches emerging almost weekly, it’s reasonable to presume that data breaches will be essentially regarded as a common offshoot of the present threat landscape.” added Robert McArdle.

The Trend Micro Security Predictions for 2015 also include a continued increase in the exploitation of smart devices such as smart cameras, appliances and TV’s as cybercriminals become more aggressive at targeting these platforms as well as the organizations who manage the data.

As factors like market pressure push device manufacturers to launch more and more smart devices sans security in mind to meet the rising demand, so will attackers increasingly find vulnerabilities to exploit for their own gain.

“Smart homes and home automation will continue to proliferate across the globe, further increasing all of our attack surfaces. As such, smart device manufactures must consider how to secure the data that resides in these devices not just the devices themselves” said Robert McArdle.