Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2009

Abstract

On October 15, 2008, the Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC) hosted its annual summit on emerging security threats and countermeasures affecting the digital world. At the conclusion of the event, GTISC released this Emerging Cyber Threats Report—outlining the top five information security threats and challengesfacing both consumer and business users in 2009. This year’s summit participants include security experts from the public sector, private enterprise and academia, reinforcing GTISC’s collaborative approach to addressing information security technology and policy challenges. "As one of the leading academic research centers focused on information security, GTISC believes strongly that a proactive and collaborative approach to understanding emerging threats will help us develop more effective information security technologies and strategies," said Mustaque Ahamad, director of GTISC. "The annual GTISC Security Summit on Emerging Cyber Security Threats and our annual Emerging Cyber Threats Report seek to give us a better understanding of the cyber security challenges we will face in the years ahead." GTISC research and advance interviews with key information security experts from government, industry and academia uncovered five specific trends and some profound questions that will drive threats and countermeasures in 2009 and beyond, including: Malware, Botnets, Cyber warfare, Threats to VoIP and mobile devices, and The evolving cyber crime economy. In an effort to inform the broader community about current and future risks, this report will describe each emerging threat, existing or potential countermeasures, and how the threat may evolve in the coming year. In addition, our experts will offer their opinion on the role that Internet security education and regulation may play in further preventing the spread of cyber crime.