As most industry experts have been saying, malware has shifted its sights from PC-based platforms to ‘smarter’ ones. This includes everything from smartphone OS like Android, Apple’s OSX and social media platforms. Android is a particularly attractive target for the malware industry, as it has the largest global outreach and is based on an open-source kind of format. Security firm Trend Micro predicted that Android malware threats would grow to 1 million by the end of 2013. Windows phone and iOS also face their fair share of security problems.
The recent trends in Android viruses and malware help substantiate these predictions. Only last year, Trend Micro apprehended 350,000 security dangers for Android. The security invasion attempts on Android in the last 3 years are equivalent to the ones made on PC in 14 years. As the technological evolution is speeding up, so is the progress of malware production. Java-based attackers have brought Apple’s OSX into the periphery of vulnerable software as was seen in the first large-scale encroachment on Macs in 2012. In fact, the Java threat got so potent in 2012, more so on Windows than Mac, that the government had to issue an advisory note recommending that people uninstall the plug-in.
People are spending more time on clouds and social media networks, and are more susceptible to information breaches. The amount of sharing of personal information on unsecured networks is alarming, and cyber crimes via Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are growing by leaps and bounds. Enterprise attacks have mounted up to colossal heights. Global Payments has already shelled out $94 million in trying to rectify the destructive hack into its systems, and this amount is still moving upward. Flame, Duqu and Gauss exhibited the power of targeted attacks, and these are increasing in frequency – particularly on government organizations and people with high-value data.
The virus makers are getting very organized and relying on sophisticated software to engineer malware. Blackhole Exploit Kit and Automatic Transfer Systems are examples of tools being used to create complex forms of adware, botnet controls, hacking procedures and other forms of incursions into new technology. Trend Micro is dubbing this new phenomenon as the Post-PC Malware Threat, and it is not the only one focused on the changing ecosystem of smartphone security. There is an industry-wide movement towards non-PC security initiatives, and results should be seen in 2013.
