CALIFORNIA MCAFEE RECOGNIZES DATA THEFT AS ONE OF TOP TEN THREATS FOR 2007 McAfee Avert Labs Unveils Predictions for Top Ten Security Threats in 2007 as Hacking Comes of Age @ SYS-CON Media:

McAfee Avert Labs Unveils Predictions for Top Ten Security Threats in 2007 as Hacking Comes of Age

Professionalism of Malware Threats to Watch in 2007 Include Increase in Password-Stealing Web Sites, More Spam, and Likelihood o

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- McAfee, Inc. today announced its top ten predictions for security threats in 2007 from McAfee(R) Avert(R) Labs. According to McAfee Avert Labs data, with more than 217,000 various types of known threats and thousands more as yet unidentified, it is clear that malware is increasingly being released by professional and organized criminals.

In no particular order, McAfee Avert Labs' top 10 security threats for 2007 are:

1. The number of password-stealing Web sites will increase using fake sign-in pages for popular online services such as eBay 2. The volume of spam, particularly bandwidth-eating image spam, will continue to increase 3. The popularity of video sharing on the Web makes it inevitable that hackers will target MPEG files as a means to distribute malicious code 4. Mobile phone attacks will become more prevalent as mobile devices become "smarter" and more connected 5. Adware will go mainstream following the increase in commercial Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) 6. Identity theft and data loss will continue to be a public issue - at the root of these crimes is often computer theft, loss of back-ups and compromised information systems 7. The use of bots, computer programs that perform automated tasks, will increase as a tool favored by hackers 8. Parasitic malware, or viruses that modify existing files on a disk, will make a comeback 9. The number of rootkits on 32-bit platforms will increase, but protection and remediation capabilities will increase as well 10. Vulnerabilities will continue to cause concern fueled by the underground market for vulnerabilities

Identity theft and data loss will continue to be a public issue

According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, approximately 10 million Americans are victims of identity fraud each year. At the root of these crimes is often computer theft , loss of backups or compromised information systems. While McAfee expects the number of victims to remain relatively stable, company disclosures of lost orstolen data, increasing incidents of cyberthefts and hacking into retailer, processor and ATM systems and reports of stolen laptops that contain confidential data will continue to keep this topic of public concern.

McAfee Avert Labs also predicts the unauthorized transmission of information will become more of a risk for enterprises in the area of data loss and noncompliance. This includes loss of customer data, employee personal information and intellectual property from possible data leakage channels -- applications, networks, and even physical channels, like USB devices, printers, fax and removable storage. McAfee also expects to see an increase in archival and encryption as the data loss prevention (DLP) market matures.

WEBBLOG Editor see link for detailed list of threats