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Security Threats Diversify, Modernize, Sophos Report Warns By Jennifer LeClaire December 5, 2012 9:44AM     What was once a homogeneous world of Windows systems is now a landscape of diverse platforms, and modern malware is taking advantage of that, according to Sophos. Malware authors now attack Android devices more often than PCs. Nearly 10 percent of Android devices in the U.S. have seen a malware attack, compared with 6 percent of PCs.   Related Topics Security Malware Hacker Android Windows World Wide Web Latest News Oculus VR Gets Huge Funding Boost Huawei Phone Is a Quarter-Inch Thin Yahoo, Apple Disclose Data Requests Free Video Messaging Comes to Skype Prism's Secret: Bigger Data Seizure Security threats are coming from all sides. Now Sophos is outlining some of them in its Security Threat Report 2013, which details IT security trends in 2012 and what to expect in 2013. As Sophos describes it, 2012 was a year of new platforms and modern malware. What was once a homogeneous world of Windows systems is now a landscape of diverse platforms. Modern malware is taking advantage of these trends, the security firm said, creating new challenges for IT security professionals. "Two of the defining terms of 2012 are 'empower' and 'evolve.' Attacks and threats -- on PCs, Macs and mobile devices -- continue to evolve as does the technology to combat them," said Gerhard Eschelbeck, CTO at Sophos. "As users demand more and better ways to do their jobs, IT continues to evolve, bringing forth a new set of operating systems and other advancements, replete with different security models and attack vectors, making it crucial for security technology to evolve, ensuring that end users are protected and empowered -- no matter what platform, device , or operating system they choose." Android Targeted Sophos also reports that malware authors now attack Android devices more often than PCs. Nearly 10 percent of Android devices in the U.S. have seen a malware attack, compared with only about 6 percent of PCs. We asked Michael Disabato, managing vice president of Network and Telecom at Gartner, for his take on the revelation. "Google Play is not curated as well as iOS. Android is designed to be a very flexible operating system so it's easy to root. Why do people rob banks? That's where the money is. Why are people going after Android? Because they can, because there's money in it, and because you can't get to iOS without a lot of work," Disabato told us. "Why aren't malware authors going after Windows? Windows gets defended just as quickly as possible. But very few people are installing malware detection and mitigation software on their smartphones." Beware Legitimate Websites Beyond smartphones, more than 80 percent of attacks were redirects, the majority of which were from legitimate Websites that were hacked, according to Sophos. Most of the exposure is still coming from clicking links in e-mails and browsing Web pages that are carrying malicious code. (continued...) 1  |  2  |  Next Page >   Tell Us What You Think Comment: Name: Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com CommVault is a data and information management software company dedicated to providing organizations worldwide with a radically better way to manage data and information. Their unique Solving Forward philosophy allows them to deliver complete solutions with infinite scalability and unprecedented control over data and costs. Be among the first to experience Simpana 10 software. Click here now.  Enterprise I.T. 1.   New Facebook Servers All Home Grown 2.   Cisco Telecom Router Set for the Flood 3.   HP's SMB IT in a Box Uses Google Apps 4.   Officials To Judge Apple Kill Switch 5.   VMware Brings Analytics to Logs New Facebook Servers All Home Grown Open Compute Project super efficient. Average Rating: HP's SMB IT in a Box Uses Google Apps Offering may not please Microsoft. Average Rating: VMware Brings Analytics to Logs Big Data methods to aid IT data, too. Average Rating:

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Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Samsung Offers Tiny, Superfast PCIe SSDs for Ultrabooks Solid-state drives are continuing their march forward. On Monday, Samsung Electronics announced it has started to mass produce the first PCI-Express 3.0 SSDs for the new wave of Ultrabooks.   Amazon.com Joins 3D Printer Craze, Enabling Wide Availability Commercially available 3D printers have recently moved from being expensive hobbyist devices to being pricey but accessible consumer and manufacturing machines. And now, Amazon.com will sell 3D printers & supplies online.   New Facebook Data Center Uses All Home-Grown Servers Facebook has opened its new data center in Lulea, Sweden. The data center is a first in two ways: the first in Europe and the first to be equipped with all Facebook-designed, Open Compute servers.

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

Why Google's Project Loon is Smart Business Google is once again proving that it's much more than a search engine or even a mobile-device company, with Project Loon. The initiative aims to bring "balloon-powered Internet" to isolated areas of the world.   Authorities Want Smartphone 'Kill Switch' To Fight Thefts Law enforcement authorities are calling on the smartphone industry to adopt "kill switch" technologies that would deter theft by squeezing the market for selling stolen devices, which would be worthless if "bricked."   Small Business Gets Boost from Mobile Marketing Aside from the requisite e-commerce tricks, small businesses are turning their attention to the mobile arena to engage social media-savvy customers, as mobile marketing tools offer more channels.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

New Facebook Data Center Uses All Home-Grown Servers Facebook has opened its new data center in Lulea, Sweden. The data center is a first in two ways: the first in Europe and the first to be equipped with all Facebook-designed, Open Compute servers.   Cisco Telecom Router Ready for Internet Traffic Flood The Carrier Routing System-X unveiled by Cisco for the telecommunications industry is a 400 Gbps per slot system that can be expanded to nearly 1 petabit per second, enough to deal with the coming flood in demand.   HP's IT in a Box Targets SMBs by Using Google Apps Hewlett-Packard is partnering with Google on HP SMB IT in a Box, which it bills as a "one-stop shop" solution for small and medium business customers. The move is likely to ruffle Microsoft's feathers.

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