Machine to machine attacks, ghostware, headless worms, jailbreaking and 2-faced malware! This will be the new language of cyber security which invokes a level of fear that seems to threaten all that is at stake. In 2016, the internet hackers are about to launch extremely sophisticated attacks on everything from medical devices to critical infrastructure. The network security providers have reportedly said that they are facing an arms race with regards to cyber security. As there is constant advancement in technology, there is a simultaneous rise in the ways in which the hackers can steal information making use of the loopholes. 2016 is going to be a threat landscape for this entire industry. Read on to know how.
Machine to machine attacks will be on a rise
As per a research company named Gartner, there will be more than 7 billion connected devices being used in the New Year, 2016, a figure which saw a 30% increase since 2015. By the end of 2020, this number will probably jump to more than 20 billion connected devices, as per Gartner. To put it in another sense, every human being on Earth will live between 2 or 3 connected devices. This increasingly large number of connected devices through the Internet of Things presents an unavoidable opportunity for the hackers.
Majority of the consumer connected devices don’t prioritize security and as their number increases, the number of attacks will also skyrocket. A large number of services and products will be put at risk as security will gradually take a backseat. Smartphones will present the biggest risk for many. They will become particularly attractive to the cyber hackers due to the large number being in use, including web browsing and malicious apps. Apple devices will still be the most secure as they have a very good security policy due to the application code review. Websites and popular CMS platforms such as Wordpress will also be vulnerable to being hacked, which the Wordpress community fully acknowledges. With all that news, nothing will remain 100% safe and secure in 2016!
Headless worms and viruses will move from one device to another
2016 will most likely bring in a new form of viruses and worms which will be able to move from one device to another. These will be the first “headless worms” (malicious code) which targets the headless devices like smartphones, smartwatches and medical hardware. There will be some harmful bits of code which will move around millions of computers. The largest the experts have seen till date is 15 million infected machines being controlled by a single network with a surface for attack of 20 billion devices. This number can easily spike to 50 million or even more.
Breaking of the ‘Cloud’
As we step into 2016, expect an increase of attacks on cloud infrastructure and cloud, including the virtual machines which are the computers based on software. The hackers are going to create a malware which are specifically made to crack all such systems based on cloud infrastructure. With the growing dependence on both hybrid and private clouds, these kinds of attacks will become even more fruitful for the cybercriminals.
The companies need to protect themselves against such threat and they require enforcing more security policies. They should ensure including the use of antivirus software within their cybersecurity strategy. Education should be given to employees so that they don’t click on any unrecognized attachment or links and keep their anti-virus up-to-date. To enhance your knowledge on such security threats, keep an eye on a good gadget review blog.
