ATLANTA, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A Georgia security center has released its report on the top three security risks and concerns for consumer and business users of computers and the Internet.
The Georgia Tech Information Security Center announced its Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2011 to a summit of industry and academic leaders in Atlanta, a Georgia Institute of Technology release said.
An increase in the number of mobile and networked devices provides an enticing target for cyber criminals to steal data and thwart the functioning of systems in a variety of venues from hospitals to utility providers, the report said.
The center highlighted three cyber security areas in which threats are expected to increase.
First is physical systems, as infrastructure services such as electric grid and utilities become networked and connected to the Internet and will face greater risk of disruption and misuse.
Second is large-scale attacks by botnets, with cyber criminals using networks of "hijacked" computers and increasingly sophisticated malware for identity theft and other forms of computer crime.
And finally, the center says, mobile devices and social networking makes users attractive targets of attacks meant to lure unsuspecting people into handing over personal and sensitive information.
