eMazzanti Announces Top 8 Computer Security Threats for 2013

eMazzanti Technologies in partnership with WatchGuard gives businesses a heads-up regarding the most insidious computer security threats for the New Year.

Hoboken, NJ and NYC New York (PRWEB) July 11, 2013 eMazzanti Technologies, a Hoboken, New Jersey and New York City area IT expert and computer consultant, gives businesses a peek at the top 8 most likely computer security issues for 2013. The annual predictions will help small and medium businesses proactively stay ahead of malware and cyber threats that can potentially cripple their companies.

“As computer security professionals, we are trained to recognize and prevent security breaches,” noted Jennifer Mazzanti, president, eMazzanti Technologies. “However, most computer users and IT staffs are not; some assuming their businesses are too small to worry about. That would be a bad assumption.”

As a WatchGuard Partner of the Year for three years, eMazzanti Technologies has joined with them to offer small and medium businesses an overview of the top eight security threats for the New Year. Following are two examples of the threats and a full copy of the list can be downloaded here.

Threat #1: Malware Enters the Matrix through a Virtual Door
Today, organizations of every size leverage hardware virtualization in some way, whether directly within their own environments or via cloud services, which rely on virtualized environments. Even mobile devices are starting to use virtualization to secure sensitive data in sandboxed, contained environments. While there is nothing wrong with adopting this innovative technology to improve businesses, most firms have not spent enough time securing virtualized environments. Cyber attackers are aware of this unbalance, and will definitely exploit it. Security specialists like WatchGuard are seeing malicious code that can recognize when it’s running in a virtual system and act accordingly. Last year, security professionals witnessed the first real-world instance of malware that actually sought out virtual machines and infected them directly. In 2013, expect to see attackers create even more VM-targeted malware. It will be designed to take advantage of weaknesses found in many virtual environments, while attempting to avoid virtualized automatic threat detection systems.

Threat #2: It’s the Browser, Not the System, Malware Is After
Traditional malware tends to infect the OS. Typically, it runs as an executable program, and modifies various boot parameters to ensure it runs every time users turn on their computers. Now, a new type of malware has emerged. Sometimes called Man-in-the-Browser (MitB) malware or browser zombie, it arrives as a malicious browser extension, plugin, helper object, or piece of JavaScript. It doesn’t infect the whole system; instead it takes complete control of the browser and runs whenever the web is surfed.

Cyber criminals have realized two things:

1. With the increased adoption of cloud services (like online banking) a great deal of personal, private, and sensitive data passes through a web browser.
2. Many antivirus solutions, which are focused on catching more traditional malware, aren’t as effective at detecting these browser-based infections.

As a result, expect to see a steep rise in browser-infecting malware in 2013.

For a complete list of computer security threats for 2013, download the article here.

Other security related information:

Mobile Security Threats

25 Criteria for an IT Provider

How to Select an IT Provider: 25 Criteria

24 Disaster Tips

About eMazzanti Technologies
With a company name that sounds more like a purebred, high-performance sports car than a IT support and consulting firm, eMazzanti Technologies is all about delivering powerful solutions such as information security, Office cloud technology 365, computer network management, network troubleshooting, business continuity and disaster recovery, green computing, mobile workforce technology and business information optimization in the most efficient manner possible. The Hoboken, N.J., firm is located in one of the most densely populated – and competitive – regions in the U.S. It provides business technology consulting services for companies ranging from home offices to multinational corporations throughout the New York metropolitan area and in three countries. eMazzanti is a Microsoft Gold Partner and Partner of the Year, a three year veteran as a WatchGuard Partner of the Year, and is an Inc 5000 winner for several consecutive years. For more information contact: Carl Mazzanti 201-360-4400 or emazzanti.net. Twitter: @emazzanti , Facebook: Facebook.com/emazzantitechnologies.