Cellular botnets, cybermilitias: Hackers stay one step ahead.

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October 17, 2008 (Computerworld) The ability of malware writers to consistently stay ahead of those seeking to stop them has been a constant factor in the security industry over the past several years.

Looking to 2009, don't expect that situation to change, security analysts and vendors concede glumly. In fact, with cybercrime getting more organized and as more money is poured into malware development, it will be a challenge to stop cybercrooks from pulling even further ahead, according to the authors of a report on emerging cyberthreats for 2009 and beyond.

The report was released this week by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC) and looks at the threats that security managers are likely to confront next year and how to deal with them.

For the most part, the threats are not unexpected or especially new. What's different is the increasing sophistication and refinement that malware writers are adding to their tools and attack techniques. Among the emerging threats identified in the report are the following:

Bugs and botnets in the mobile world:
The features built into smart phones, such as Apple's iPhone, Research In Motion's BlackBerry, Google's Android and Windows-enabled mobile devices, are making them increasingly computer-like in their functionality. And therein lies a security problem.

The more the systems emulate traditional PCs and notebooks, the more prone they are to the security risks that have bedeviled the computer industry for years, said Patrick Traynor, an assistant professor in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech and a GTISC member.

Read the full report at: on/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9117424