2017 TECH TRENDS SPECIAL attacks: Kaspersky Lab expects to see the‘ commodification’ of attacks along the lines of the 2016 SWIFT heists in 2016 – with specialised resources being offered for sale in underground forums or through as-a-service schemes.

• The compromise of payment systems: As payment systems become increasingly popular and common, Kaspersky Lab expected to see this matched by a greater criminal interest.

• The breakdown of‘ trust’ in ransomware: Kaspersky Lab also anticipates the continuing rise of ransomware, but with the unlikely trust relationship between the victim and their attacker – based on the assumption that payment will result in the return of data – damaged as a lesser grade of criminal decides to enter the space. This could be the turning point in people being prepared to pay up.

• Device integrity in an overcrowded Internet: As IoT-device manufacturers continue to pump out unsecured devices that cause widescale problems, there is a risk that vigilante hackers could take matters into their own hands and disable as many devices as possible.

• The criminal appeal of digital advertising: Over the next year, we will see the kind of tracking and targeting tools increasingly used in advertising being used to monitor alleged activists and dissidents. Similarly, ad networks – which provide excellent target profiling through a combination of IPs, browser fingerprinting, browsing interest and login selectivity – will be used by advanced cyber espionage actors keen to precisely hit targets while protecting their latest toolkits.

The full text of the report“ Kaspersky Lab Threat Predictions for 2017” is available on Securelist.

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