a scam. Protect yourself by using security best practicesno matter where you are on the Internet, or how you connect to it. And speaking of connecting… “Your toaster is not infected, but your security camera just robbed you blind.” The “Internet of Things” becomes the“Internet of Vulnerabilities.” You can expect dumb things will get smarter in 2014. With millions of devices connected to the Internet—and in many cases running an embedded operating system—in 2014,they will become a magnet for hackers. Security researchers have already demonstrated attacks against smart televisions, medical equipment and security cameras. Already we’ve seen baby monitorsattacked and traffic was shut down on a major tunnel in Israel, reportedly due to hackers accessing computer systems via a security camera system.Major software vendors have
figured out how to notify customers and get patches for vulnerabilities to them. The companies building gadgets that connect to the Internet don’t even realize they have an oncoming security problem. These systems are not only vulnerable to an attack – they alsolack notification methods for consumers and businesseswhen vulnerabilities are discovered.Even worse, they don’t have a friendlyend-user method to patch these new vulnerabilities. Given this, we are going to see new threats in ways in which we’ve never seen before. “I like you, I like you, I like you... That will be $20 and your login and password, please.” Mobile apps will prove that you can like yourself too much. People (generally) trust those they sleep with, so it should not be surprising that with 48 percent of people sleeping with their smart phones, they are lulled into
a (false) sense of security about them. In 2013, we reported on a mobile app that would secure additional“likes”foryour postings on Instagram.All you had to do was hand over your login and password to some guy in Russia. More than100,000 people saw nothing wrong with that. We trust our mobile devices and the wonderful apps that run on them to make our lives better.We suspend disbelief for that device that sits in our pocket, purse or nightstand. The bad guys are going to take advantage of this big time in 2014.I’m not even talking about malware – mobile apps are going to be behind hoaxes, cons and scams of all sorts in 2014. So, there you have them, my predictions for 2014. Of course, the best part of trying to predict the future is being surprised by the unforeseen and the unimaginable. I'll be right on some while I'll be proved wrong on others. What’s certain is that I'll be listening for all the new whispers to see what 2015 will bring.
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