"Cybercriminals and hacktivists will strengthen and evolve the techniques and tools they use to assault our privacy, bank accounts, mobile devices, businesses, organizations and homes," said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. "Only by understanding and preparing for threats can we empower people to secure their information."

Mobile Threats Rising

The number of mobile threats increased dramatically in 2012, as ransom-ware expanded into mobile devices. McAfee predicts the development and deployment of increasingly sophisticated ransom-ware technologies that will "lock up" a phone or tablet and threaten to keep it that way until a ransom is paid, will be a prominent trend in 2013.

The security firm says users have no way of knowing if their device will be unlocked even if they do meet the perpetrator's demands. Since attackers hijack the users' ability to access data , McAfee said, victims will be faced with either losing their data or paying a ransom in the hope of regaining access.

McAfee also pointed to a new mobile worm it expects will go on a major shopping spree in 2013. The Android/Marketpay.A Trojan horse program buys apps without user permission. In 2013 cyber-crooks will take this malware's app-buying payload and add it to a mobile worm so attackers won't need victims to install a piece of malware, the firm predicted.

And it seems mobile phones with NFC-enabled "digital wallets" are an easy target for cyber-thieves. McAfee expects attackers to create mobile worms with NFC capabilities to steal money via the "bump and infect" method, most commonly used in areas with dense populations like airports and malls.

The Decline of Anonymous

Due to many uncoordinated and unclear operations and false claims, McAfee predicts the Anonymous hacktivist movement will slow down in 2013. Anonymous' level of technical sophistication has stagnated and its tactics are better understood by its potential victims, and as such, the group's level of success will decline. While hacktivist attacks won't end in 2013, if ever, they are expected to decline in number and sophistication.

"Nation-states and armies will be more frequent actors and victims of cyberthreats. Patriot groups self-organized into cyberarmies have had little impact up until this point, but their actions will improve in sophistication and aggressiveness," the report said. "In 2013, many more of the world's military units will be on the front line of social networks communicating more frequently. State-related threats will increase and make the headlines, while suspicions about government-sponsored attacks will grow." (continued...)

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Maureen Robinson: