Security experts at Grisoft, developer of the AVG family of security software products, today revealed their forecast for the top five security threats facing computer users in 2008.
1. Web exploits and web-based social engineering attacks. "Viruses will continue to be a threat, but we'll also see an explosion of exploits through social engineering," says Roger Thompson, chief research officer at Grisoft.
2. Storm worm on the rise. "We're seeing pieces of Storm sold off to cybercriminals and we expect orchestrated attacks across multiple platforms." says Karel Obluk, Grisoft chief technology officer.
3. Email-propagated viruses. Many novice users remain unaware of email security issues and continue to open attachments from senders they do not know.
4. Web exploits targeting trusted web sites. "If cybercriminals can infiltrate a popular site, they will reap their rewards quickly and be gone in no time." says Thompson.
5. An increase in the number of Windows Vista attacks. With increasing adoption of Microsoft's latest operating system, Vista will become a bigger and thus a more tempting target.
While AVG expects international law makers to pay closer attention to cybercrime in 2008, it's unlikely that stronger laws will deter cybercriminals. "There is simply too much money to be made.”
