From Malware distribution to IoT attacks, Top cybersecurity threats to watch out in 2020

Cybersecurity firm Avast has anunced predictions for 2020 in its annual Threat Landscape Report, as follows. We take a look:

Malware distribution to PCs

Malware infiltration is at its peak. Experts predict that in 2020, we will witness more sophisticated methods in how malware is delivered to PCs. re will also be a rise in more sophisticated methods of spreing threats being deployed. Some of se vanced methods include distributing malware, courtesy of malicious emails.

Ar method could be stealing incoming emails to spy on victims. se stolen incoming emails could also be used to d a malicious paylo, which is sent back in conversation. Researchers believe it is harder for people to spot malicious emails or suspicious links and attachments, which is what makes attacks more likely to be successful.

"Cybercriminals are constantly invating and looking for new ways to circumvent today’s powerful personal and business security solutions," Avast’s He of Threat Intelligence Systems, Jakub Kroustek.

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Fake, malicious apps

Vulnerabilities in mobile operating systems are highly likely to be exploited in 2020, which will also witness rise of more subscription scams and fake apps. Fake, scam apps making ir ways into official app stores will increase dam. Meanwhile, more iOS vulnerabilities will be exposed by security researchers and b actors alike, Avast has warned.

Since getting malicious apps approved onto Play Store and App Store is t easy, cybercriminals are shifting towards subscription scams and fake apps integrated with aggressive ware to make money, according to Nikoloas Chrysaidos, He of Mobile Threat Intelligence and Security at Avast.

"We are alrey seeing community projects, like checkra1n, providing high-quality semi-tered iOS jailbreaks based on checkm8 bootrom exploit. While this could enable researchers to discover more vulnerabilities, we hope y will be reported to Apple and t abused by b guys," Chrysaidos said.

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Internet of Things (IoT) devices on rar

In 2020, devices and physical locations will become smart with rise in IoT-enabled techlogies. Smart tech are expected to get even smarter with vendors collecting more data on ir users to learn and predict ir behaviour. Cybersecurity experts and researchers predict b actors to continue ding obfuscation to ir IoT malware, similar to how cybercriminals attempt to protect ir Windows malware code from being analysed by researchers. 

Researchers also foresee development of new exploits for smart devices and predict that malware authors will continue to build upon older, alrey established malware families, expanding m with newly released exploits to widen ir IoT attack surface.