Jay Clemens
McAfee Labs has released its forecast for the threat landscape in 2014 based on a series of analyses of security trends during 2013.
The 2014 Predictions Report predicts an increase in ransomware attacks on mobile devices amid growth of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, advancement of security evasion techniques and use of social platforms to steal financial and personal information, McAfee said Monday.
“With target audiences so large, financing mechanisms so convenient, and cyber-talent so accessible, robust innovation in criminal technology and tactics will continue its surge forward in 2014,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs.
Ransomware attacks will focus on mobile devices, near-field communications and applications data, according to the forecast.
Cyber criminals and states will also launch stealth attacks and the use of sandbox-aware attacks will rise, the prediction says.
McAfee forecasts that attackers will target HTML5 vulnerabilities in computers and sandbox security infrastructures in mobile browsers in order to gain access to devices.
Cyber criminals will also continue to attack hypervisors in data centers, multitenant access and cloud infrastructures, McAfee says.
