McAfee unveiled its 2012 Threat Predictions report, outlining the top threats for the coming year and it said the next twelve months will see increased attacks on smartphones and mobile devices.
The emerging threats from 2011 also include “legal” spam, virtual currency, industrial attacks, embedded hardware, hacktivism and rogue certificates. Needless to say, the mobile part is what we care about the most and here’s what McAfee have to say about it:
Mobile Threats: Attackers will bypass PCs
2011 has seen the largest levels in mobile malware history. In 2012, McAfee Labs expects for mobile attackers to improve on their skill set and move toward mobile banking attacks. Techniques previously dedicated for online banking, such as stealing from victims while they are still logged on while making it appear that transactions are coming from the legitimate user, will now target mobile banking users. McAfee Labs expects attackers will bypass PCs and go straight after mobile banking apps, as more and more users handle their finances on mobile devices.
And if you want to know more, you can download the whole report from here (PDF link).
[Photo via ShutterStock, iQoncept]