Two of the world’s leading anti-virus and security & threat management solutions providers have sounded two different words of caution for different governments, companies, social and commercial establishments in the days to come. Kaspersky Lab said that countries like India, China, other South East Asian countries and East African countries will be at highest risk from attackers on online banking system. Trend Micro said that social networking would be the most vulnerable platforms across the world in the next one year.

Kaspersky Lab India spokesperson said that according to a recent report prepared by Kaspersky Lab Research team, in 2012, attacks on online banking systems will be one of the most widespread methods used to steal money from users. Southeast Asia, China and East Africa are particularly at high risk. The ‘Trend Micro 12 Threat Predictions for 2012’ said that the real threat comes from the possibility of the new social networking generation redefining “privacy.”

“Young social networkers have a different attitude toward protecting and sharing information. They are more likely to reveal personal information to a wider audience beyond their friends. In time, privacy-conscious people will become the minority—an ideal prospect for attackers,” the report said. Significantly, lesser-used sites like Google+ and LinkedIn would also have their time in the cyber crime spotlight.

“Mobile platform threats usually come in form of malicious apps, but moving forward, we expect cyber criminals to go after legitimate apps, finding vulnerabilities or coding errors that can lead to data exposure or theft,” said Trend Micro referring to the latest report. Kaspersky Lab Research team felt that 2012 would see cyber criminals writing mobile malware that primarily targets Google Android.

ritwikmukherjee@mydigitalfc.com