Security vendors and information security experts across the world publishes their predictions on the upcoming security trends. Year 2012 is no different from previous years and we have plenty of such security predictions for 2012. Here is a list of information security predictions for 2012 which I thought interesting and keeping a watch

10 Security Predictions for 2012 . McAfee

McAfee talks about things like

1. Attacks on infrastructure like electric, oil and gas etc..
2. Threats to mobile devices
3. Consumerization of IT like use of tablets for business
4. Social Media where Data Loss Prevention is a major concern
5. Stealth Rootkits increase is expected in 2012
6. Hacktivism where attackers are guided by economic, political, or religious interests that generally go beyond their nation.s borders
7. Spearphishing and SQL Injection Attacks
8. Cyber warfare is expected to be of increase where hacktivism is funded by governments .

2012 Security predictions . WatchGuard

WatchGuard predictions are more about specific threats to the global IT Security scenario.

1. A major cloud provider will suffer a significant security breach and Cloud Computing brings chance of malware-storms
2. Organized criminals will leverage Advanced Malware techniques in targeted attacks against businesses
3. The barrage of noteworthy data breaches continues through 2012 (Hacktivism)
4. Increased reliance on virtualization reawakens need for virtual security
5. Smartphone app stores and marketplaces help proliferate mobile malware in the real world
6. Adoption of BYOD and IT self-service results in more data loss
7. As the top vector for social engineering and malware, Facebook is forced to increase its security
8. Attackers launch a digital attack that affects physical infrastructure or equipment
9. Location aware malware customizes its attacks
10. HTML5 offers five times the ways to hijack your website

Security Predictions for 2012 . Websense

Websense has come up with 7 security predictions for 2012 mostly focusing on the end users.

1. Your social media identity may prove more valuable to cybercriminals than your credit cards. Bad guys will actively buy and sell social media credentials in online forums
2. The primary blended attack method used in the most advanced attacks will be to go through your social media .friends,. mobile devices and through the cloud.
3. 1,000+ different mobile device attacks coming to a smartphone or tablet near you
4. SSL/TLS will put net traffic into a corporate IT blind spot
5. Organizations on the leading  edge will implement outbound inspection and will focus on adapting prevention technologies  to be more about containment, severing  communications, and data loss mitigation after an initial infection.
6. The London Olympics, U.S. presidential elections, Mayan calendar, and apocalyptic predictions will lead to broad attacks by criminals
7. Social engineering and rogue anti-virus will continue to reign.

Read the predictions in detail here.

12 Security Predictions for 2012 . Trend Micro

The TrendMicro security predictions talks about Big IT Trends, Mobile Landscape, Threat Landscape, Data Leaks and breaches

1. Though many organizations are still uncomfortable with consumerization, security and data breach incidents in 2012 will force them to face BYOD-related challenges.
2. The real challenge for data center owners will be dealing with the increasing complexities of securing physical, virtual, and cloud-based systems.
3. Smartphone and tablet platforms, especially Android, will suffer from more cybercriminal attacks.
4. Security vulnerabilities will be found in legitimate mobile apps, making data extraction easier for cybercriminals
5. Even though botnets will become smaller, they will grow in number, making effective law enforcement takedowns more difficult to realize.
6. Hackers will eye non-traditional targets so flawed Internet-connected equipment, ranging from SCADA-controlled heavy industrial machinery to medical gadgets, will come under attack.
7. Cybercriminals will find more creative ways to hide from law enforcement.
8. More hacker groups will pose a bigger threat to organizations that protect highly sensitive data
9. The new social networking generation will redefine .privacy.
10. As social engineering becomes mainstream, SMBs will become easy targets.
11. New threat actors will use sophisticated cybercrime tools to achieve their own ends.
12. More high-profile data loss incidents via malware infection and hacking will occur in 2012. Read the predictions in detail here.

Threat Predictions 2012 – M86 Security Labs

M86 Labs has given a list of web and email security threats for 2012. They focus on three trends dominated the landscape are also reflected in the report such as targeted attacks, social media threats and mobile malware

• Targeted attacks grow more damaging and complex: These are attacks such as the one on RSA,  Sony etc.
• Illicit social media scams escalate
• Mobile malware menaces users and organizations
• Third part software exploits gain traction :  Software plugins such as Flash, Java, Acrobat etc.
• Exploit kits and malware reuse proliferate; think about the Zeus family of malwares
• Compromised websites serving malicious content accelerates
• Bot-Nets disruption attempts short-lived
• Spam rebounds to distribute damaging malware
• Major sporting events draw major cyber attacks
• Attacks on cloud services inevitable

A common theme seen within these predictions are all revolving around social media, end users, scams etc. What do you think as the top security concerns for 2012.