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Trend Micro predicts targeted attacks will proliferate around the globe

Annual prediction report from cyber security leader reveals retail and financial institutions outside of the US will feel the wrath of cyber criminals in 2015.


Johannesburg, 04 Nov 2014

Trend Micro has released its annual security predictions report, "Trend Micro Security Predictions for 2015 and Beyond: The Invisible Becomes Visible", and the company's threat defence experts are highlighting the report's forecast that targeted attacks will become rampant from more countries as hackers from the usual suspects have found success targeting victims around the world. Additionally, the report breaks down seven other cyber security threat predictions for 2015 including banks and payment systems.

According to the report, targeted attacks campaigns will continue to multiply in 2015, after cyber criminals had noteworthy breaches via targeted attacks in the US. Trend Micro's threat defence 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 organisations.

"What we are seeing today is not a huge surprise but rather the velocity and brutal measures cyber criminals are using to steal information," said Gregory Anderson, country manager at Trend Micro, South Africa, "Following the success of targeted attacks from Chinese and Russian cyber criminals, many hackers from other countries will regard cyber attacks as a more practical method to grab a foothold in an organisation. Additionally, with the incessant barrage of data breaches emerging almost daily, it's reasonable to presume that data breaches will be essentially regarded as a common offshoot of the present threat landscape."

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

"The payment ecosystem will continue to evolve," said Anderson. "Massive transformation is upon us and we will continue to see threat actors trying to manipulate near field communications (NFC) as certain platforms gain momentum due to their significant following and user's penchant for adopting the latest and greatest technology."

Highlights from the 2015 predications report include:

* More cyber criminals 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 cyber crime.
* 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 Trend Micro Security Predictions for 2015 also include a continued increase in the exploitation of smart devices such as smart cameras, appliances and TVs as cyber criminals become more aggressive at targeting these platforms as well as the organisations that manage the data.

As factors like market pressure push device manufacturers to launch more and more smart devices without 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," Anderson said. "As such, smart device manufactures must consider how to secure the data that resides in these devices not just the devices themselves."

View "Trend Micro Security Predictions for 2015 and Beyond: The Invisible Becomes Visible" at: http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/predictions

Supporting assets:

Read the Simply Security Blog at: http://blog.trendmicro.com/the-invisible-becomes-visible/
View the TrendLabs Security Intelligence Blog entry at: http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/2015-predictions-the-invisible-becomes-visible

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Trend Micro

Trend Micro (TYO: 4704), a global leader in security software, strives to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. The company's solutions for consumers, businesses and governments provide layered content security to protect information on mobile devices, endpoints, gateways, servers and the cloud. Trend Micro enables the smart protection of information, with innovative security technology that is simple to deploy and manage, and fits an evolving ecosystem. Leveraging these solutions, organisations can protect their end-users, their evolving data centre and cloud resources, and their information threatened by sophisticated targeted attacks.

All of solutions are powered by cloud-based global threat intelligence, the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, and are supported by over 1 200 threat experts around the globe.

For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

Editorial contacts

Charlene Carroll
Anti-Clockwise
(+27) 11 314 2533
Charlene@anticlockwise.co.za