2010 Cyber-Threat Forecast Sees Hacks Growing in Sophistication and Reach ● Home ● News Topics ● Blogs ● Jobs ● Digital Communities ● Video ● Events ● Webinars ● Grants ● Magazines ● Advertise Login 2010 Cyber-Threat Forecast Sees Hacks Growing in Sophistication ● Government Technology News and Reach Articles ● Digital Communities Dec 31, 2009, By Hilton Collins, Staff Writer ● Comment e-Government The new year will usher in some interesting new changes in the world of malware and cyber-attacks, according to one company's ● Economic Stimulus You May Also Like predictions for 2010. ● Emergency Management ● CSI Computer Crime and Watchful eyes will have to be kept on mobile phone apps, Google ● Emerging Technologies Security Survey Shows Wave accounts, file sharing and peer-to-peer networks -- cyber- ● Enterprise Technology Poor Security Awareness criminals will target those in greater numbers, according to Training in Public and ● Green Initiatives predictions released by Kaspersky Labs, a provider of Internet Private Sectors threat management solutions for combating malware. ● Products ● White House Appoints As technology touches more lives, the bad guys will see more ● Public CIO Howard Schmidt as First opportunities. ● Public Safety Cyber-Security Coordinator http://www.govtech.com/gt/735777 (1 of 5)4/25/2010 11:01:22 PM 2010 Cyber-Threat Forecast Sees Hacks Growing in Sophistication and Reach "Given the growing sophistication of threats -- it's no longer just an ● ● Transportation Mark Weatherford: U.S. e-mail saying, ‘Please click on this attachment,' and you get Must Protect Critical ● Wireless infected with something -- the schemes are much more elaborate Infrastructure From Cyber- than that," said Roel Schouwenberg, the company's senior malware ● View All News Topics… Threats researcher. ● Get News Via Email Related Products Released Dec. 16, the company's predictions and findings on ● Industry Perspectives From wireless mice 2010's greatest cyber-threats and new attack vectors may be a ● Case Studies to keyboards to a wake-up call for some. combo of both, we ● White Papers have the right "A lot of things that are happening are happening invisibly, and ● Partner Sites wireless product for people will not notice anything until they see that they have lost money or that their identity has been stolen," Schouwenberg said. ● Government Technology Magazine you. : Logitech ● Current Issue Wirelessly use The forecast is divided into six predictions about the threats of keyboard, mouse and tomorrow: ● Subscribe other devices with a • more interest in attacking via Google Wave accounts as the ● Contact single unifying technology is used more; receiver : Logitech ● • more attacks on iPhone and Android mobile platforms as they Tools Sponsored By become more popular; Get Govtech's • more attacks from file sharing networks instead of from Web sites Daily Newsletter and applications; • more mass malware epidemics being spread through peer-to-peer networks; view sample • less distribution of fake anti-virus programs as the market for this type of attack has been saturated and IT security professionals have been more diligent in cracking down on it; and • more criminals providing malware traffic -- using botnets to send spam, distribute malware or performing denial-of-service attacks -- as a paid service for other criminals in subtle ways without actually committing crimes. This means the good guys might have a tougher time fighting the good fight. "Malware will continue to further its sophistication in 2010, with specific malware families requiring significant resources from anti-malware companies to adequately fight them," Schouwenberg said in a statement. Although these attacks might become more pervasive, their growth could be mitigated by workplace policies that restrict or modify social networking and the usage of mobile devices while on the job. "I'm quite sure that governments are a lot more strict about what kind of smartphones -- or phones in http://www.govtech.com/gt/735777 (2 of 5)4/25/2010 11:01:22 PM 2010 Cyber-Threat Forecast Sees Hacks Growing in Sophistication and Reach general -- may run compared to the average business," Schouwenberg said. "That goes for attacks on social networks. Some government agencies have social networks blocked." 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Get FREE Subscription http://www.govtech.com/gt/735777 (5 of 5)4/25/2010 11:01:22 PM United States Government Accountability Office Testimony GAO Before the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives For Release on Delivery Expected at 2:00 p.m. EDT Wednesday, March 24, 2010 INFORMATION SECURITY Concerted Response Needed to Resolve Persistent Weaknesses Statement of Gregory C. Wilshusen Director, Information Security Issues GAO-10-536T March 24, 2010 INFORMATION SECURITY Accountability Integrity Reliability Concerted Response Needed to Resolve Persistent Highlights Weaknesses Highlights of GAO-10-536T, a testimony before the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives Why GAO Did This Study What GAO Found Without proper safeguards, federal Federal agencies have reported mixed progress in securing their systems and computer systems are vulnerable to implementing key security activities. For example, in fiscal year 2009, intrusions by individuals who have agencies collectively reported an increasing percentage of personnel receiving malicious intentions and can obtain security awareness training and specialized security training, but a decreasing sensitive information. The need for rate of implementation for other key activities when compared to fiscal year a vigilant approach to information security has been demonstrated by 2008. In addition, federal systems continued to be afflicted by persistent the pervasive and sustained cyber control weaknesses. Almost all of the 24 major federal agencies had attacks against the United States; information security weaknesses in five key control categories, as illustrated these attacks continue to pose a in the figure below. potentially devastating impact to systems as well as the operations Information Security Weaknesses at Major Federal Agencies for Fiscal Year 2009 and critical infrastructures that Number of agencies they support. Concerned by reports 24 of weaknesses in federal systems, Congress passed the Federal 20 Information Security Management Act (FISMA), which authorized and 16 strengthened information security program, evaluation, and annual 12 reporting requirements for federal agencies. 8 GAO was asked to testify on 4 federal