New year, new targets in cybercrime

25.01.2011
The enterprise, not the consumer, seems to be the primary target for cyber criminals across the globe this year. Additionally, criminals are shifting their focus from desktop computers to mobile devices. RSA and Cisco have bought released reports on what cybercrime trends to watch out for this year.

Cybercrime shifts to enterprise

2010 saw cybercrime making a shift into the enterprise and that will remain the trend in 2011, says the RSA Anti-Fraud Command Center.

The company has released its 2011 Cybercrime Trends Report and says that "cybercrime continues to show no signs of slowing down. "As the new decade opens, cybercrime is diverging down a different path as cyber attacks move beyond the financial services industry and malware makes a shift from targeting consumer desktops to employees in the enterprise," says the report.

Mobile malware tops the list of cybercrime trends compiled by the RSA for 2011, as mobile applications downloads continue to rise. The report points out that the number of downloads will more than double in 2011 to 25 billion applications.

"But it is not just consumers and their banks that must consider the risks of mobile malware. The consumerization of IT has laid the bridge for the crossover of consumer technology into the enterprise. Organizations are providing their employees with mobile devices, or employees are using their own personal devices to conduct work-related activities -- potentially opening up a backdoor for malware to make its way onto the corporate network," says the RSA.