It’s that time of year again when, it seems, every technology vendor suddenly becomes clairvoyant with an insatiable urge to predict the battles we need to arm ourselves against. The cynic in me would suggest that the primary function for imparting these pearls of wisdom is to sow a seed that grows into sales for a particular technology. With that in mind, here are my top predictions for the coming months.

First on my list of predictions: The aforementioned self-promoting vendors will be compelled to compare me to a pot fixated on certain coal-colored kettles, if you catch my drift. I will retaliate by stating that my predictions are based on ‘real’ trends that I see in the security arena and not just meant to allow me to sell more of my boxes. $10 says we don’t even get into the New Year before this particular prediction bears fruit!

Ok, enough frivolity already - security is a serious subject, so time for some proper insights!


Rise in invited break-ins

It’s been alluded to for years but our devices are under attack. I predict that 2013 will see a surge in compromised computers. There are a number of ways that this will happen:

a) The patient criminal

Social media has proved hugely popular and many of us now follow our friends and colleagues’ antics through a montage of tweets, status updates and profile changes. And it’s not just the average Joe on the street who has switched on to Social Media; criminals are also using these networking sites to practice their craft – for example, Dorkbot hit Skype in October and combined ransomware with social media targeting by delivering clickable messages to users on behalf of their connections. Take this a step further and I believe the threat could come from a wolf in sheep’s clothing – the criminal in disguise.

Imagine a Twitter feed purporting to be from a respected, but relatively new, guru on the block. His LinkedIn profile looks legitimate with a number of credible positions under his belt. After a few months the account has risen from X00s to X0,000s of followers all hanging on his every word. On the face of it this person is not just trusted but obviously has his finger on the pulse. One day he issues a warning that there is a serious security flaw in a popular operating system. Suggesting a patch will be too late, many trust the link he publishes and clamour to download the code that will mitigate the threat. But what if it’s all part of an elaborate deception and, instead of a protective blanket, you’re cut to shreds in razor wire?