The year ahead will feature new and increasingly sophisticated means to capture and exploit user data, as well as escalating battles over the control of online information that threatens to compromise content and erode public trust and privacy. Those were the findings announced by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC) and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) in today's release of the 'Georgia Tech Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2012.' The report was released at the annual Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit, a gathering of industry and academic leaders who have distinguished themselves in the field of cyber security.
According to GTISC, GTRI and the experts cited in the report, specific threats to follow over the coming year include, among others:
- Search Poisoning – Attackers will increasingly use SEO techniques to optimize malicious links among search results, so that users are more likely to click on a URL because it ranks highly on Google or other search engines.
- Mobile Web-based Attacks – Expect increased attacks aimed specifically against mobile Web browsers as the tension between usability and security, along with device constraints (including small screen size), make it difficult to solve mobile Web browser security flaws.
- Stolen Cyber Data Use for Marketing – The market for stolen cyber data will continue to evolve as botnets capture private user information shared by social media platforms and sell it directly to legitimate business channels such as lead-generation and marketing.
The entire report is available at http://gtsecuritysummit.com/report.html.
"We continue to witness cyber attacks of unprecedented sophistication and reach, demonstrating that malicious actors have the ability to compromise and control millions of computers that belong to governments, private enterprises and ordinary citizens," said Mustaque Ahamad, director of GTISC. "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."
Today's 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 Summit was keynoted by Admiral William J. Fallon, U.S. Navy (retired) and included a panel of security experts from Equifax, The Financial Services Roundtable, Mobile Active Defense, Reputation.com and GTRI.
"Our adversaries, whether motivated by monetary gain, political/social ideology, or otherwise are becoming increasingly sophisticated and better funded," said Bo Rotoloni, director of GTRI's Cyber Technology and Information Security Laboratory (CTISL). "Acting as individuals or groups, these entities know no boundaries, making cyber security a global problem. We can no longer assume our data is safe sitting behind perimeter-protected networks. Attacks penetrate our systems through ubiquitous protocols, mobile devices and social engineering, circumventing the network perimeter. Our best defense on the growing cyber warfront is found in cooperative education and awareness, best-of-breed tools and robust policy developed collaboratively by industry, academia and government."
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation's leading public research universities and the home of groundbreaking cyber security research and academic initiatives through GTISC, GTRI and other facilities across campus. These efforts are focused on producing technology and innovation that will help drive economic growth, while improving human life on a global scale.
About The Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the world's premier research universities. Ranked seventh among U.S. News & World Report's top public universities and the eighth best engineering and information technology university in the world by Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic Ranking of World Universities, Georgia Tech's more than 20,000 students are enrolled in its Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech is among the nation's top producers of women and minority engineers. The Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute. http://www.gatech.edu
About the Georgia Tech Information Security Center
The Georgia Tech Information Security Center, a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education, is an interdisciplinary center involving faculty from the College of Computing, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Public Policy. http://www.gtisc.gatech.edu
About the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)
For more than seventy-seven years, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has built a reputation as one of the world's premier applied research and development organizations. Each day, GTRI's science and engineering expertise is used to solve some of the toughest problems facing government and industry across the nation and around the globe. A non-profit research institute, GTRI teams with its customers to attack their problems with passion and objectivity. In 2011, GTRI was awarded more than $205 million in sponsored research contracts from government and industry.
GTRI's nearly 1,600 expert scientists, engineers and other professionals spend each day turning ideas into action. Much of GTRI's research takes place within eight uniquely focused research laboratories. Among them is the Cyber Technology and Information Security Laboratory (CTISL) which conducts applied research focused on secure information systems, network vulnerability and mission assurance within the cyber domain. GTRI and Georgia Tech's academic units have complementary missions and work together to solve real-world problems. As an integral part of Georgia Tech, GTRI opens the door to the vast intellectual resources of one of America's leading research universities. http://www.gtri.gatech.edu