SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwire) The first decade of this century has been a significant period for cyber security. Attacks at the network layer by major worms like Nimda and SQL Slammer ushered in the new century while the combination of major incidents like the Heartland Security Breach, which resulted in the compromising of up to 100 million credit cards, and many attacks against social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, closed out the decade. The coming ten years promises to be even more dramatic.
"Over the next ten years, attacks will become much more sophisticated and organized, supported by criminal organizations capitalizing on the latest trends and Internet fads to trick unsuspecting users along with the escalation of cyber warfare as other nations infiltrate our infrastructure to bring about chaos and financial ruin," said Mandeep Khera, CMO of Cenzic. "With an increased number of new applications using Web 2.0 technologies and a rise in application level vulnerabilities, we have all the conditions of a perfect storm for cyberattacks."
In particular, Khera projects the following key trends for 2010 and over the next decade:
1. Despite government efforts, cyber war will become much more common with more severe attacks exploiting the Web. We have been predicting cyberwars for the last few years and in 2009 significant breaches, including an incident with N. Korea have raised awareness. Along with Cyber warfare, we'll also see more instances of cyberterror as hackers target the telecommunications and utility infrastructures of target nations.
2. Social network sites like Facebook and Twitter will continue to be targeted for attacks due to their popularity and usage. New and game changing social networking apps will emerge each with a unique set of security challenges. Social networking will become even more prevalent as hackers go after these user bases looking for personal financial information to enable them to siphon money from bank accounts and credit cards. Data from social networks will also give rise to increased identity theft as hackers sort through social networks to gather clues to unlock passwords and steal identities.
3. The rise in smartphone use, particularly the popularity of specific phones such as the iPhone, begets an escalation in mobile app use. As these apps become ubiquitous for users seeking to enhance both their business and personal worlds, they will increasingly become a target for hackers who see millions of potential targets in these apps, most of which use a Web infrastructure for hackers to exploit.
4. Cloud computing will become more prevalent as organizations try to optimize their infrastructure to streamline costs, however the cloud comes with inherent security risks. Cloud providers will increasingly become a target especially for hackers using Web attacks.
5. The collective security consciousness will be raised. Businesses large and small will adopt technologies to secure their Web sites, regulations will be developed and fines increased. Universities will make security, especially application security, a mandatory requirement for all development courses and there will be more regulations around cyber security including increases in fines to companies found negligent along with more severe criminal punishment for hackers. Yet, hackers will also become more organized and sophisticated.
About Cenzic
Cenzic, a trusted provider of software and SaaS security products, helps organizations secure their websites against hacker attacks. Unlike network security and SSL solutions, Cenzic focuses on Web Application Security, automating the process of identifying security defects at the Web application level where more than 75 percent of attacks occur. Our dynamic, black box testing of Web applications is built on a non-signature-based technology that finds more "real" vulnerabilities and helps companies with vulnerability management, risk management, and compliance with regulations and standards. The Cenzic solution suite fits the needs of companies across all industries and government agencies -- from testing Websites remotely via our managed service (Cenzic ClickToSecure®), to a full enterprise-wide software product (Cenzic Hailstorm® Enterprise ARC™) for managing security risks across the entire company.
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