The world is about to become more complicated as you no longer have to worry solely about whether security exploits will trouble your computer. From next year, there’s more to protect than just your devices.
2017 is set to be an interesting year for security, as the companies responsible for protecting us start laying out their threat predictions for the new year.
Intel Security, the owners of McAfee, have next year’s ready to go, and there are over a dozen of the things, many of which have some pretty serious implications.
First is the good news, with Intel Security suggesting ransomware attacks will decrease in volume and effectiveness, but while that’s a positive thing, Intel suggests that exploits will increase targeting Windows, virtualisation, as well as hardware exploits.
Yes, that means actual technology could be broken into next year, or will be targeted like it is, with drones one of the main things hackers will be looking to break into, something that will be called “dronejacking”.
Also being targeted are gadgets that sit in the Internet of Things (IoT), and with more of these expected around the home, IoT devices could offer hackers backdoor access into our lives, suggesting more protection is needed.
A frustrating development, this could mean access to your television, your lights, your cameras, and even switching on various parts of your home, such as a stray camera on a TV or locking you out of your front door.
That’s a fairly sizeable difference from the style of attacks we saw this year, which have jumped across several industries but has seen a pretty big impact on mobiles, phishing, and ransomware.
The last one — ransomware — has been pretty dominant this year, tricking people into locking up their files in exchange for a fee, and while we still expect these will be found in the new year, fake ads delivering malware could act as a new method for dispersing the files.
So what’s the answer to all of this?
“With the ever-changing threat landscape, cyber education is never-ending,” said Andy Hurren, Solutions Architect for Intel Security APAC, adding that “it needs to be a fundamental part of computer literacy.”
“Educating users to be cyber-security aware so that they recognise and avoid situations in which they might be affected should be the goal. Security tools are there to aid in advising, defending, detecting and remediating throughout this process,” said Hurren.
So you’ll need education and software, with the former helping you pick up on as many problems as you can see, and the latter filling in the gaps that you might not be able to handle.
Intel recommends a few other things, such as using strong passwords, keeping software and hardware up to date, to use secure WiFi like that of networks at home, and to check things before you click them, but staying aware of security’s problems and that this isn’t going away any time soon is one of the better things you can do.
Security is already a big deal, but it’s going to be a bigger deal from here on in because it is extremely lucrative for cybercriminals, and that means staying vigilant and aware of potential problems, exploits, and more.
The good news is that security companies will be doing what they can to stay on top of the problems, and provided you have some element of security, that means you should be safe.
And if not, there’s never been a better time to start securing your home and everything inside.
