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    Cyber threats to Increase in 2012: Report

    Synopsis

    The other two threats for next year are Search Poisoning and Stolen Cyber Data Use for Marketing.

    HOUSTON: More and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats are expected in 2012, according to a new report.

    The report released yesterday by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center and the Georgia Tech Research Institute, several specific threats that experts and researchers believe will be more prevalent next year.

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    One of the major threats is the expected increase of attacks against mobile web browsers.

    The other two threats for next year are Search Poisoning and Stolen Cyber Data Use for Marketing.

    Mustaque Ahamad, Director of the Georgia Tech Information Security Center, says some applications downloaded onto smart phones and other mobile web devices could pose a significant threat.

    "It's possible that it takes your contact information, your location, if you're doing mobile banking your financial institution credentials and things like that, so there are all kinds of possibilities."

    Ahamad says mobile-web device users need to be aware of the risk before downloading applications.

    "You just don't download any app onto to your phone. You have to do some due-diligence before you decide to run that."

    "If we are going to prevent motivated adversaries from attacking our systems, stealing our data and harming our critical infrastructure, the broader community of security researchers--including academia, the private sector and government--must work together to understand emerging threats and to develop proactive security solutions to safeguard the Internet and physical infrastructure that relies on it."

    The report also says attackers are expected to increasingly use techniques to make it more likely for internet users to click on malicious links when visiting search engines.

    Experts also believe botnets will capture private user information from social media platforms, and that information will be sold to businesses.

    The report was released at the annual Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit.

    Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit is one forum where the IT security ecosystem can gather together to discuss and debate the evolving nature of cyber threats, and to chart the course for creating solutions through collaborations among industry, government and academia.
    The Economic Times

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