Georgia Tech Information Security Center Offers Threat Forecast for 2011

According to InformationWeek, the Georgia Tech Information Security Center has released its 2011 Emerging Cyber Threats Report, and the good guys have their work cut out for them.

What can you expect?

Further proliferation and sophistication of botnets, attacks on pervasive devices and social networking and the impact of cyber security issues on physical systems.

Defending against botnets is difficult due to their automation and sophistication. Earlier this year, Gartner predicted botnet attacks will continue going strong through 2013.

Also in 2011, expect attacks on pervasive devices and social networks. Recent studies by AVG and Panda Labs, ranked Facebook as No. 1 for compromised Web pages and malware infections. And with more than 4.5 billion people using a cell phone every day, it makes for an attractive target for criminals. Matt Jonkman, CEO of Emerging Threats, notes:

Attackers are notorious for going where people are-and people are on their phone, using apps around Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or dating sites ... attackers can go out with a large-scale run on one major, popular platform, because people will respond quickly, making the attack very effective.