Studying the desires and choices of its more than 200 million active users, and its other millions of potential users, AVG Technologies presents some trends that should emerge strongly in 2016 when it comes to living an increasingly safe, peaceful connected life. and private.
Check out below six trends pointed out by Michael McKinnon, Director of Security Awareness at AVG, as the big issues that should move users and tech companies in the next year.
1. Artificial Intelligence keeps us safe online
Systems such as automatic parking in cars herald a unique moment in history, in which software will keep us increasingly safe. And this is also happening online!
In AVG's case, our latest released antivirus contains a number of sophisticated neural learning and cloud data collection features designed to find malware earlier than ever before. To create this new outbreak detection and file reputation algorithm took years of research and development. In this way, over the next year, the race against malicious actors on the Internet will gain considerable momentum, providing a faster response and destroying threats more quickly than ever before.
And the best: these advances in learning systems and Artificial Intelligence are increasingly accessible!
2. Certification Authorities: The Beginning of the End
The need to securely encrypt all website traffic via HTTPS is a growing problem, and in 2016, in the face of new open standards and simpler, cheaper options, it could become a global reality.
The 'Certificate Authorities' are under increasing scrutiny in recent years, as news such as lack of certificate management, security challenges, and data leakage have plagued some of these certifiers. Stories about the SSL certificate trust model are also emerging, with suspicions that the state has sponsored agents who may be infiltrating supposedly secure communications.
The role of a Certificate Authority is to validate a website owner's identity and legitimacy before issuing an SSL certificate. It's still a great idea for companies that can afford it, as they still offer additional insurance and protections. But for most small blogs or small business pages, paying an authority and adhering to their rules is cumbersome and unnecessary. This is where some alternatives come in, like Let's Encrypt (currently in beta).
In addition, Google's Certificate Transparency Project will continue to verify fake SSL certificates through modern browser detections, and put pressure on Certificate Authorities against this type of fraud.
Finally, with the promise of other solutions, such as the Internet Society's proposed DANE protocol, which allows any website owner to validate their own SSL certificate, without the need for an Authority, 2016 will be a year to pay attention!
3. 'Malvertising' and ad networks: adapt or drop out!
Malvertising is what happens when malware is offered to unsuspecting visitors on a variety of websites, and it is happening frequently because of the combination of questionable third-party relationships and weak security, affecting many online ad networks around the world.
2016 is the time for ad networks to shape up or disappear, before they destroy the digital economy they helped build and contribute to crumbling scores for websites that depend on payback with ads for their survival.
At the root of this problem are complex tracking and advertising "scripts" provided by ad networks and added by publishers (sometimes blindly) on their websites. This new variable, when combined with traditional attacks, can be used to infect thousands of users of legitimate websites. While many larger ad networks already respond quickly during a Malvertising incident, a few minutes is all it takes to affect thousands, even millions of users.
To make matters worse, ask someone who recently installed an adblocker and they'll tell you how fast their favorite pages are loading right now. The sad truth is, many content-rich sites that rely on advertising revenue have become cumbersome and slow.
In fact, research by The New York Times shows that on the most popular mobile websites, more than half of the bandwidth is used to load ads. That's more network data to load ads, scripts and tracking codes than the content you actually want to see on the page!
However, adblockers are not a long-term solution to the problem, and represent a potential economic disaster that could spell the collapse of the way the Internet is monetized today.
Furthermore, a recent statement by the Interactive Advertising Bureau acknowledged that advertisers had 'lost their grip on user experience' when developing content. To combat the use of ad blockers, the IAB developed LEAN principles: Light, Encrypted, Ad Choice Supported, and Non-Invasive. These principles will help guide the principles of a new phase for digital ad providers around the world.
But no matter what the solution, one thing is for sure: ad networks need to shape up to meet new user security needs, otherwise 2016 can be remembered as the year in which a massive Malvertising case affected millions of us. in one hit.
4. Sorry, but passwords aren't going anywhere!
Passwords are a concept, not a technology, and they will be with us for many years to come. The vast majority of us still use it for many activities, whether in private life or at work. But even if the password won't disappear in 2016, that doesn't mean it's perfect and that we shouldn't think about alternatives.
This year Yahoo announced a security solution that uses mobile features in addition to the password to authorize access, and we've also seen Google include Smart Lock features that can use the presence of another device to unlock your smartphone.
A rapidly growing, and very useful, control concept is two-factor authentication and will continue to become popular for using cloud resources. If it is offered, we highly recommend it, especially if you don't have the best habits when it comes to choosing passwords.
Also, passwords are free. Any other solution offered as an alternative often comes with a cost – whether a cost in technology or in complexity, which is why passwords are here to stay.
However, in 2016, weaknesses associated with passwords, such as reuse or incorrect storage, will no doubt continue, and we hope to keep consumers and businesses aware and educated about the risks so we can better address this issue.
5. IoT – the need for security will reach boiling point
While it may seem fun to own a WiFi-enabled coffee maker, which allows you to control your coffee production from your smartphone without even having to get out of bed, the same coffee maker has the power to give you your WiFi password. And this is just an example of a very common security flaw in solutions designed by designers, not system developers.
Every unprotected device or application - Smart TV and radio, lighting and security systems, "smart" refrigerators and "self-driving" cars - anything that can be connected can open you up to hacking. Cybercriminals are probing the hardware, scanning the waves, and harvesting passwords and other personally identifiable data wherever they can.
The danger of this new and open IoT world is compounded with the new age of technology. Most of us have already set computers and mobile devices to automatic updates, but no one is thinking about keeping home apps safe and always using the latest version. We need to see these devices and applications as a computer and protect them in the same way as we do today with PCs and cell phones.
We will continue to see, in the coming years, many strange devices connected to the internet without a real concern from designers about security, and the problem is likely to increase because many manufacturers have not taken the time to analyze the risks these connected devices can pose.
Thinking from the perspective of a company, for example, when buying a smart coffee maker, no employee today will question the IT area on the subject. So to stay safe, we need to redefine how we think and understand these devices at a fundamental level.
6. Upgrade or Death!
Updating all your software, devices, gadgets and equipment has never been more important – and it will be a matter of life and death in 2016.
Manufacturers of self-driving cars such as Google have already anticipated that they will take responsibility for traffic violations, as well as possible accidents and damage caused by their cars – a small comfort, as you can die for forgetting to update your car. your car to the latest software!
As intelligent systems begin to permeate our lives in ways yet to be imagined, these same software can make a potentially life-threatening decision. It will become essential to ensure that they and all your devices are updated, as your life may depend on it. Okay, maybe not in 2016, most certainly in the next few years!
"We believe that, more important than offering security tools, it is necessary to always educate the user about the dangers of the network, questions about privacy and also about how to get the best out of each connected device", explains Leandro Mantovam, Country Manager at AVG at Brazil. "That's why these forecasts are intended to alert and awaken the common user's critical sense to the security issues that permeate our daily lives".
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