Top 10 Security Threats for 2008

As the computer infections and threats evolve day by day, the security companies struggle to design new technologies able to block them all... although we have to admit it's pretty difficult to do that. Security vendor McAfee today released the top 10 predictions for computer infections in the next year, expecting an impressive increase in the web 2.0 attacks.

"Threats are increasingly moving to the Web and migrating to newer technologies such as VoIP and instant messaging," said Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Avert Labs and product development. "Professional and organized criminals continue to drive a lot of the malicious activity. As they become increasingly sophisticated, it is more important than ever to be aware and secure when traversing the Web."

So, this is the top 10 security threats for 2008 as it was presented by McAfee:

1. Web 2.0 Attacks - with more and more users looking for this type of websites, the attackers adapt their solutions and attempt to conduct malware attacks and other malicious actions through these pages. The Salesforce and MySpace attacks are pretty edifying, most attempts targeting users' login credentials.

2. The Storm Attacks - a recently discovered threat identified as "Storm" revealed a new trend in the malicious attacks concerning our computers: permanently changing codes and several file formats targeted by the infections make the blocking and removal process very difficult for our security technologies which are supposed to protect the data stored on the hard-drives.

3. IM Attacks - it's no longer a secret that the instant messaging client continuously rise in popularity as lots of Internet users choose Yahoo Messenger or Windows Live Messenger to communicate on the web. And this action is explained by the avalanche of attractive features included in the instant messengers such as file transfer, webcam support and many others. That's why the attacks conducted on these applications might be well increased, the hackers aiming to steal users' credentials through phishing websites. The stolen information can be then used for messaging victims' contacts to expand the attacks.

4. Online Gaming Attacks - the online gaming is not only a popular activity on the web but it's also the main source of money for numerous companies which allow the registered members to buy virtual goods in order to be used in the game. The attackers may be attracted by these virtual goods which could be used for obtaining real money.

5. Windows Vista Attacks - the latest version of Microsoft Windows is, just like the previous editions of the operating system, affected by more or less critical vulnerabilities. As usual, the attackers attempt to exploit these flaws and inject malware or other threats into the affected systems.

6. AdWare Attacks - even if the adware is currently in a continuous decline due to more and more powerful security tools, it might represent an important threat even if McAfee predicts a decrease in the number of the attacks.

7. Phishing Attacks - the phishing attacks have always been pretty efficient as they are using copies of genuine websites to trick the users to enter their sensitive data. Since the techniques for conducting this kind of attack grow up, the phishing attempts might become one of the top 10 threats for the next year.

8. Parasitic Attacks - this one is pretty dangerous as it attempts to modify the files stored on the disks "injecting code into the file where it resides. We expect a continued interest in parasitics from the crimeware community, with overall parasitic malware expected to grow by 20 percent in 2008," McAfee explained.

9. Virtualization to help new types of attacks - "Security vendors will embrace virtualization to create new, more resilient defenses. Today's complex threats will be easily defeated, but researchers, professional hackers, and malware authors will begin looking at ways to circumvent the new defensive technology, continuing the classic game of cat and mouse."

10. VoIP Attacks - as this type of software tools gain popularity, the attacks will be well increased, McAfee expecting a growth of approximately 50 percent.