From the crystal ball of Roel Schouwenberg: Google Wave, the iPhone and Android mobile phones will come under heavy cyber attacks in 2010.
Schouwenberg, a senior malware researcher at Kaspersky Lab Americas, predicts Google Wave will grab headlines in coming months -- but not necessarily for emerging as the next killer online networking app. Instead, he says, Google Wave is likely to become a top target of cyber criminals.
"Attacks on this new Google service will no doubt follow the usual pattern," Schouwenberg soothsays. "First, the sending of spam, followed by phishing attacks, then the exploiting of vulnerabilities and the spreading of malware."
Schouwenberg also anticipates a sharp rise in attacks on the iPhone and Android mobile platforms, following the successful probe attacks of 2009. "The first malicious programs for these mobile platforms appeared in 2009, a sure sign that they have aroused the interest of cybercriminals," he says.
Android users, in particular, seem ripe for plundering. "The increasing popularity of mobile phones running the Android operating system, combined with a lack of effective checks to ensure third-party software applications are secure, will lead to a number of high-profile malware outbreaks," he says.
Schowenberg's prescient orb also tells him that the overheated race between Google, Microsoft Bing, and Yahoo Search to incorporate Facebook and Twitter posts in search results -- in real time -- is destined to aid and abet cyber criminals' deployment of phishing scams, banking Trojans and cutting-edge intrusions. "Malware will continue to further its sophistication in 2010," he says.
By Byron Acohido
Dec 29, 2009
www.content.usatoday.com
