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Mobile apps, near-field communications continue to face cyber risk


November 12, 2014   by Canadian Underwriter


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Financial institutions and people using wireless devices running Google Inc.’s Android operating system will continue to be attractive targets for cybercriminals, computer security vendor Trend Micro Inc. suggested in a recent report.

In the report, The Invisible Becomes Visible: Trend Micro Security Predictions for 2015 and Beyond, Tokyo-based Trend Micro referred to several recent privacy breaches, including one affecting Home Depot between April and September, when hackers obtained data from about 56 million payment cards.

“We’ll see two or more major data breach incidents each month,” Trend Micro said of breaches in general. “Banks and financial institutions, along with customer data holders, will always be attractive breach targets.”

In order to address cyber security risk, individuals “should regularly change passwords while organizations should constantly monitor their networks for all kinds of threats and exploitable vulnerabilities,” Trend Micro advised. “Waiting for solutions like more secure payment systems and legal sanctions, though already in the works, is no longer enough. Awareness of threats is a must and so are ever-ready mitigation and remediation plans because no one is safe from compromise.”

Another potential threat is hackers targetting apps on Android devices, Trend Micro suggested in the report, released Nov. 3.

“Bad guys can point vulnerable device users to malicious websites, for instance,” Trend Micro warned. “Successful exploitation can then give them access to any or all of the information stored in affected devices. Worse, because exploit kits are known for affecting multiple platforms, should such a kit be made to target even mobile devices, who’s to say that the threats infected smartphones carry won’t spread to any device they have access to?”

Trend Micro is also a predicting a “continued increase in the exploitation of smart devices such as smart cameras, appliances and TV’s as cybercriminals become more aggressive at targeting these platforms as well as the organizations who manage the data.”

JD Sherry, Trend Micro’s vice president of technology and solutions, stated in a release that “we will continue to see threat actors trying to manipulate Near Field Communications (NFC) as certain platforms gain momentum due to their significant following and user’s penchant for adopting the latest and greatest technology.”


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