This year  all global players showed their readiness to develop and deploy cyber weapons, while they are likely to use more heavily programs such as switches and logic bombs in 2012,  according to the study ‘Cyberthreat Forecast for 2012’ conducted by Kaspersky.

Cybercriminals are expected to use simple tools more often and to destroy data at a required time. The number of targeted attacks will continue to grow in 2012, Kaspersky forecasts. Moreover, the range of targeted business and areas of economic activity will expand, according to the forecast report.

Next year, cybercriminals will focus more on attacking and creating malware to Google Android. ‘The dramatic growth in malicious programs for Android in the second half of 2011 saw Google’s operating system rank first among mobile platforms in terms of the number of threats, and there is little to suggest that the virus writers will shift their focus in the near future,’ shows the Kaspersky report. Moreover, more malware will be uploaded to official app stores, primarily to Android Market.

The online banking systems will also see more attacks and methods used to steal money from users. South-East Asia, China and East Africa are particularly at risk.

Hacktivism, also known as hacker attacks as a form of protest, is also expected to be used for  concealing other types of attacks in 2012, while multiple attacks  on various government institutions and businesses will be carried out all over the world.

Read the entire ‘Cyberthreat Forecast 2012’ report here (PDF version).

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Photoxpress.com)