**5. Present-day computer security threats and trends**

Predicting the computer security threats and trends is usually done to lend a hand to the security experts who take proactive measures to protect security. Normally the predictions for any year depends on how it went in the previous years, and the changes expected are mainly in terms of the tactics and scale of the biggest and significant threats that were successful in implementation and also in evading detection. The investment on security is justified in many organizations only after analyzing these predictions.

Phishing and other social engineering tactics are likely to continue in the coming years too with increased complexity and sophistication. They will appear to be more and more convincing to trick people into clicking on a link or opening attachments. Even with strong defenses to protect against ransomware, hackers are expected to all the time target more victims with large digital assets. The rise of cryptocurrency like bitcoin will also trigger more ransomware attacks by letting demands for payment made incognito. Cryptojacking can also be seen as a common trend of future as it involves hackers hijacking with a purpose of mining for cryptocurrency.

As the Internet of Things is becoming widely popular and more ubiquitous, the IoT attacks will be on the upsurge. IoT includes laptops, tablets, smart wearable devices, webcams, household appliances, Wi-Fi-enabled speakers, appliances, alarm clocks, medical devices, manufacturing equipment, automobiles and networking devices like routers, gateways, switches, NAS servers, and even home security systems. Security is rarely the first concern in the competition to bring new products and technologies. Thus the more IoT devices, the greater the risk, making IoT attacks to be on the rise in coming years.

Data breaches will continue in the coming years as data remains a valuable black market attraction.

Totally new approaches for data and infrastructure protection are essential as more and more data is moved to the cloud. Also, in the coming years, there will be more attacks targeting electrical grids, automated transportation systems, computerized water treatment facilities, etc.

State-sponsored attacks are when states or nations are using their cyber skills to infiltrate other governments and execute attacks on severe infrastructure. As political strains grow, state-sponsored attacks steal political and industrial secrets, spread misinformation, perform DDoS attacks, execute prominent data breaches, etc.

Another target of attacker is the all-time sensitive medical record of patients. As the healthcare industry gets used to the digital age, concerns around privacy, safety, and computer security threats are also seen to rise. There are worries about a hacker

**11**

**Author details**

**6. Conclusion**

Directorate of Technical Education, Government of Kerala, India

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

and deployment of advanced multiple layer security devices.

\*Address all correspondence to: cizathomas@gmail.com

provided the original work is properly cited.

Ciza Thomas

*Introductory Chapter: Computer Security Threats DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93041*

etc., as these are life-threatening to the patients.

taking over and changing dosages of medicines, disabling vital sign monitoring,

yet another opportunity to exploit vulnerabilities and cause threat to life.

Now, with the self-driving cars, semiautonomous vehicles, and the connected cars, the risk of cyber security is stringent and serious. With high-tech automobiles, the future will likely see an increase in not only the number of connected cars but in the number and severity of system vulnerabilities detected. For hackers, this means

Endpoint security will be a major concern for organizations as malware infections of employee-owned devices are going to be a major security issue in 2020 when employees start "working from home" in the wake of COVID 19 pandemic. When organizations permit employees not to risk their health and safety and allow them to use their own devices, attackers will target those devices to bypass the multilayered defenses of the organization. The advantage to hackers is that the users' personal devices are less protected compared to corporate devices as users rarely apply added measures to protect their smart devices from impending threats.

Artificial intelligence also gets applied on both sides of the barricade for protecting and attacking the computers. Artificial intelligence is being used for person identification, threat detection, etc. to aid security; however it is also being weaponized by hackers to develop increasingly complex malware and attack methods.

A lot of computer threats have been included in this chapter with many terms tending not to be mutually exclusive. Again, an attack may get classified into different classes since attackers use multiple techniques or strategies. The irony is that even with lot of advanced defensive mechanism put in place by security experts, the hackers may still use the same attacking techniques and will take advantage of the same vulnerabilities they have used in the past. It is important to defend the attacks by paying attention to the internal systems, deploying multiple defenses for enhanced security, and avoiding irreparable damage. This requires the implementation of security policy as an ongoing process with tight access control mechanism

#### *Introductory Chapter: Computer Security Threats DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93041*

*Computer Security Threats*

**4.30 Spam**

someone with a wicked intent.

analyzing these predictions.

victims into following links or entering details.

IoT attacks to be on the rise in coming years.

erized water treatment facilities, etc.

market attraction.

**5. Present-day computer security threats and trends**

entered, the redirection happens to some forged website looking similar to the actual one. This fake site prompts one to enter personal information that gets to

Spams are unsolicited bulk e-mail messages that annoy the user with unwanted and junk mails. It gives burden for communications service providers, organizations and individuals alike. These emails can be commercial ones like an advertisement or noncommercial one like chain letters or anecdotes. Spam is considered an active vehicle for virus propagation, scams, fraud and is a threat to computer privacy. Spam also phishes for interesting information with offers and promotions that trick

Predicting the computer security threats and trends is usually done to lend a hand to the security experts who take proactive measures to protect security. Normally the predictions for any year depends on how it went in the previous years, and the changes expected are mainly in terms of the tactics and scale of the biggest and significant threats that were successful in implementation and also in evading detection. The investment on security is justified in many organizations only after

Phishing and other social engineering tactics are likely to continue in the coming years too with increased complexity and sophistication. They will appear to be more and more convincing to trick people into clicking on a link or opening attachments. Even with strong defenses to protect against ransomware, hackers are expected to all the time target more victims with large digital assets. The rise of cryptocurrency like bitcoin will also trigger more ransomware attacks by letting demands for payment made incognito. Cryptojacking can also be seen as a common trend of future as it involves hackers hijacking with a purpose of mining for cryptocurrency.

As the Internet of Things is becoming widely popular and more ubiquitous, the IoT attacks will be on the upsurge. IoT includes laptops, tablets, smart wearable devices, webcams, household appliances, Wi-Fi-enabled speakers, appliances, alarm clocks, medical devices, manufacturing equipment, automobiles and networking devices like routers, gateways, switches, NAS servers, and even home security systems. Security is rarely the first concern in the competition to bring new products and technologies. Thus the more IoT devices, the greater the risk, making

Data breaches will continue in the coming years as data remains a valuable black

Totally new approaches for data and infrastructure protection are essential as more and more data is moved to the cloud. Also, in the coming years, there will be more attacks targeting electrical grids, automated transportation systems, comput-

State-sponsored attacks are when states or nations are using their cyber skills to infiltrate other governments and execute attacks on severe infrastructure. As political strains grow, state-sponsored attacks steal political and industrial secrets, spread misinformation, perform DDoS attacks, execute prominent data breaches, etc.

Another target of attacker is the all-time sensitive medical record of patients. As the healthcare industry gets used to the digital age, concerns around privacy, safety, and computer security threats are also seen to rise. There are worries about a hacker

**10**

taking over and changing dosages of medicines, disabling vital sign monitoring, etc., as these are life-threatening to the patients.

Now, with the self-driving cars, semiautonomous vehicles, and the connected cars, the risk of cyber security is stringent and serious. With high-tech automobiles, the future will likely see an increase in not only the number of connected cars but in the number and severity of system vulnerabilities detected. For hackers, this means yet another opportunity to exploit vulnerabilities and cause threat to life.

Endpoint security will be a major concern for organizations as malware infections of employee-owned devices are going to be a major security issue in 2020 when employees start "working from home" in the wake of COVID 19 pandemic. When organizations permit employees not to risk their health and safety and allow them to use their own devices, attackers will target those devices to bypass the multilayered defenses of the organization. The advantage to hackers is that the users' personal devices are less protected compared to corporate devices as users rarely apply added measures to protect their smart devices from impending threats.

Artificial intelligence also gets applied on both sides of the barricade for protecting and attacking the computers. Artificial intelligence is being used for person identification, threat detection, etc. to aid security; however it is also being weaponized by hackers to develop increasingly complex malware and attack methods.
