Cellopoint announces its 2010 Email Security Predictions report

Jan. 18, 2010 - PRLog -- San Jose, January 4, 2010- According to CelloLabs analysis, spam and email threats continue to grow in 2010 as the social engineering tactics have become increasingly sophisticated. Hackers are able to attack specific groups at a higher success rate by taking the approach of "quality over quantity" like Target Attract and Spear Phishing.

Six 2010 Email Security Predictions from Cellopoint:

1. Social Networking Threats Gone Worse
Social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Friendster inevitably become the major targets of hackers in 2010. More and more business PR departments approach customers for brand promotion by taking advantage of the spike in social networking sites and their whirling users. However, at the same time, the fame of social networking sites also bring concerns about privacy and security, such as possible vulnerabilities to leak sensitive information. Back to 2009, millions of Facebook users suffered a number of social engineering attacks, for example, a "Reset Password" notification with a malicious link leading to a guise website. At least tens of thousands of members clicked the link and exposed their sensitive data, and some were even infected by Trojans. CelloLabs estimates that a significant increasing number of people will be under attack this year. Therefore, from social networking site providers, enterprises, organizations to individuals, it is time to act to spare from the threat.

2. Third-party Applications on SNS are Time Bombs
Many social networking sites(SNS) provide open platforms for third-party applications and social games to engage users. Nevertheless, come with the business opportunities are security concerns. Hackers gain access through social networking sites with open API and create malicious applications with backdoors to launch attacks and steal user’s personal information or install Trojan on users' computer.

3. Botnet and Malware Increase
Hackers with advanced Botnet technology now can randomly switch domains, host locations and even proxy servers, which allow Zombie programs spread like the seeds of the revival in compromised hosts. Even the service providers had turn off the service, hackers can still easily reconstruct Botnet(Zombie Network) elsewhere, continue to send spam, phishing emails, denial of service attack(DDoS), Directory Harvest Attacks(DHA) and mail bombs. Threats rush like waves, one trouble after another, and paralyze IT infrastructure and services if you do not have adequate information security precautions.
4. URL Shortening Tools Become Hackers’ Favorite
The popularity of social networking and micro-blogging sites, which limit users with 140 characters in a message, has led users to use shortened URLs in their pages. Although URL shortening are commonly used, it also causes problems, especially when users are uncertain whether a shortened URL will lead them to a phishing site or a malicious site, or even lead them to download Trojan when clicking the link. CelloLabs detects that about 70 percent of spam contain a shortened URL as the guise of a real phishing site last year and expects this proportion may exceeding to 90 percent in 2010.

5. Non-English Spam Increase
Recent growths of Asia-Pacific economy also nourish Spammer underground economy with an increasing number of non-English spam, especially in Chinese. According CelloLabs' study, the rate of non-English spam may grow over 50 percent and the amount of junk email will blast this year due to lucrative of economic development, network infrastructure, and development of broadband Internet access.

6. Cloud Computing Security Issue Arise
Cloud computing is hot. And the preservation of sensitive data has become one of the hottest topics in information security because data and computing are running on remote servers. CelloLabs predict that hackers may attack the cloud infrastructures, seize control of the hosts to steal information, and use the compromised cloud servers as attacking tools.


About Cellopoint
Cellopoint is a leading provider of email UTM (Unified Threat Management) solutions for organizations ranging from small businesses to large enterprises and ISPs. We defend against email threats such as spam and viruses, prevent leaks of confidential data by content filtering and secure mail delivery, archive email to protect your digital assets, comply with regulatory inquiries and corporate investigations in a single, web-based platform. We design the maximum reliable, scalable and flexible solutions to help you minimize administration time, mitigate liabilities and secure information. More information is available at www.cellopoint.com

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About Cellopoint:Cellopoint is a leading provider of email UTM (Unified Threat Management) solutions for organizations ranging from small businesses to large enterprises and ISPs.