Cyber Threats to Individuals

Almost every household in the United States has at least one computer in it. These computers while great, link us to cyber threats. The end of 2011 brought these predictions to cyber threats for 2012.

First with the rising use of cell phones and apps, the attacks on those devices rise as well. The risks for these devices include access to information like physical location and contact lists. Apps can also download malware and keyloggers or programs can eavesdrop on phone calls and text messages. Users who use their phone for banking and enter personal information are more at risk.

Many cell phones now face cyber threats such as viruses

Cyber criminals were also predicted to take advantage of popular searchers. Popular keywords or sights become targets for cyber infections. Criminals target upcoming big events; one that was predicted to be targeted was the election. The threat comes from the malware people attach to these popular searches and sites. 

Faking things was also part of the 2012 hack predictions. From faking registry cleanups, to fake speed improvements and fake back-up software, these hackers fake just about anything to get into your computer. These fake products are predicted to continue in the future as long as they are able to fool people.

With the rise of cyber risks some wonder if anything is safe

Hack predictions also were high for spear phishing, which is basically using deceptive communication to get access to confidential data. Using fake emails, texts, or other forms of communication the hackers try to get access to your data. These hackers are out for financial gain, or some sort of secret information. These tactics are predicted to continue throughout 2013.

Georgia Tech and Websense also have some predictions on what threats we will face in 2013. The prediction for mobile attacks continues as smartphones become more popular. While only a few phones now show signs of infection, the popularity and data in a smartphones are bound to tempt hackers to try to get into more phones.

The basic trend is that hackers work to get around the protection that people do have. The threat landscape evolves to keep up with protection evolution. The predictions for 2013 mainly involve evolutions of the risks that we face today.

As technology changes, threats change to march. Now the problem becomes how do we protect ourselves from such changing threats, next time  some solutions and people can better protect themselves.