6. Virtualization transforming information security
Although security vendors are embracing virtualization to aid in security defense, McAfee expects malware authors to play the "classic game of cat and mouse", eventually finding ways to defeat the current virtualization developments by the security companies.
7. Windows Vista
Windows Vista is set to gain additional market share next year, crossing the 10 percent mark, including the release of Service Pack 1 set for 2008, which is likely to bump up adoption figures.
"As Vista becomes more prevalent, attackers and malware authors will start in earnest to explore ways to circumvent the operating system's defenses...we can expect a lot more Vista vulnerabilities to be reported in 2008," predicted McAfee.
8. Phishing to grow
McAfee expects "smaller, less-popular sites" to be targeted, as a result of top-tier sites strengthening their walls.
Furthermore, password-stealers may exploit user carelessness and apathy toward good security practices. "Knowing that a large percentage of people reuse their usernames and passwords, less popular sites are likely to be targeted more frequently than before, giving criminals the same access," stated the release.
9. Parasitic crimeware to regain popularity
Although the viruses that sit on the user's disk, modifying existing files "faded into the background" in recent years, 2007 saw the rise of "old school crimeware" such as Grum, Virut and Almanahe.
This year also saw the resurrection of an older threat, Philis, with its variants growing by over four times; 400 variants of a newcomer, Fujacks, were also noted by the security firm.
All these indicate a renewed interest in parasitic malware, and McAfee projects its growth to be 20 percent in 2008.
10. Adware continues its decline
Perhaps the only positive news in the list, adware is set to carry its decline from this year into 2008. McAfee attributes this to government crackdowns, better defensive systems and the increasingly-negative connotation associated with this form of advertising.
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