Intel Security makes 14 predictions about security in 2017

Source: Intel Security website.

Intel Security released its McAfee Labs 2017 Threats Predictions Report in late November 2016, identifying threat trends to watch in 2017, developments to watch for in cloud security and Internet of Things (IoT) security, as well as the six most difficult-to-solve challenges facing the cybersecurity industry.

There are 14 cyber threats predictions for 2017:

1. Ransomware attacks will decrease in volume and effectiveness in 2H17.

2. Windows vulnerability exploits will continue to decline, while those targeting infrastructure software and virtualisation software will increase.

3. Hardware and firmware will be increasingly targeted by sophisticated attackers.

4. Hackers using software running on laptops will attempt “dronejackings” for a variety of criminal or hacktivist purposes.

5. Mobile attacks will combine mobile device locks with credential theft, allowing cyber thieves to access such things as banks accounts and credit cards.

6. IoT malware will open backdoors into the connected home that could go undetected for years.

7. Machine learning will accelerate the proliferation of and increase the sophistication of social engineering attacks.

8. Fake ads and purchased “likes” will continue to proliferate and erode trust.

9. Ad wars will escalate and new techniques used by advertisers to deliver ads will be copied by attackers to boost malware delivery capabilities.

10. Hacktivists will play an important role in exposing privacy issues.

11. Leveraging increased cooperation between law enforcement and industry, law enforcement takedown operations will put a dent in cybercrime.

12. Threat intelligence sharing will make great developmental strides in 2017.

13. Cyber espionage will become as common in the private sector and criminal underworld as it is among nation-states.

14. Physical and cybersecurity industry players will collaborate to harden products against digital threats.

The cloud predictions touched on topics such as trust in the cloud, storage of intellectual property, antiquated authentication, east-west and north-south attack vectors, gaps in coverage between service layers, for-hire hackers in the cloud, “denial of service for ransom” attacks, IoT implications for cloud security models, laws and litigation versus innovation, movement of data across borders, biometrics as cloud enablers, cloud access security brokers (CASBs), protection of data at rest and in motion, machine learning, cyber insurance, and ongoing conflicts pitting speed, efficiency, and cost against control, visibility, and security in cloud offerings.

The IoT predictions focused on cybercrime economics, ransomware, hacktivism, nation-state attacks on criminal infrastructure, challenges for device makers, privacy threats and opportunities, encryption, behavioral monitoring, and cyber insurance and risk management.

Challenges for the industry include the need to improve threat defense effectiveness by reducing information asymmetry between defenders and attackers, making attacks more expensive or less profitable, improving visibility into cyber events, better identifying exploitation of legitimacy, improving protection for decentralised data, and detecting and protecting in agentless environments.

Interested?

Read the McAfee Labs 2017 Threats Predictions Report (PDF)