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Mobile ransomware, targeted job fraud and Trojans lurking behind shocking videos are all expected to make their appearance on social media in 2015, antivirus software provider Bitdefender warns.

Studies in the last year on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter allowed Bitdefender security researchers to forecast future trends. While the main threat seems to be targeting individuals using social media, growing corporate adoption of Bring Your Own Device policies means that they could also spell disaster for an entire company. As per Bitdefender's analysis, here are some of the five social media threat predictions to look out for:

Mobile ransomware could hit social networks. "Although the takedown of the Zeus botnet in June 2014 threw a wet blanket on Cryptolocker, variants of the e-threat found their way onto new platforms," says Bitdefender. "Users should remain sceptical of any message accusing them of various crimes, such as zoophilic behaviour and distributing child pornography. These threats may be part of ransomware campaigns and could also hit social networks."

Work-at-home scams to claim more victims. LinkedIn will be hit by a higher number of 'work-at-home' scams, luring job-seekers with promises of huge salaries for almost no effort. "With the career market moving into the virtual world, such social engineering attacks will claim more victims in 2015. Users are advised to watch out for poorly completed profiles and dubious recruiters on LinkedIn."

Popular searches will make for popular scams. Bitdefender also warns of popular Google searches. Besides typical SEO poisoning, cyber-criminals will also use social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to spread scams based on search interest. "Google's recent list of top searches coincided with some of the most popular scams… indicating this trend is well and truly alive," states Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist at Bitdefender. "In 2013, people just wanted to know how to twerk; however, [2014] brought more interest in topics such as Ebola, Robin Williams' death, the World Cup and Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. Scammers used all of these searches to target high numbers of victims on Facebook, Twitter and via traditional e-mail spam." Bitdefender predicts scammers will continue to exploit the names of any deceased celebrity.

Malvertising on social networks. Malvertising is on the rise, with almost one in three ad networks serving this repackaged e-threat, according to Bitdefender research. Facebook's ad platform also hosts fraudulent and malicious ads from web categories that seem to copy spam patterns. In 2015, users should be cautious of malvertising, as it will become more than simple click-fraud.

NEW REGULATIONS
Businesses may think they have a future-proof IT strategy in place, but this is not so, warns Stephen Midgley, VP global marketing, Absolute Software, as substantial regulation changes on the horizon force a considerable rethink.

"The EU Data Protection Regulation, which should come into force in 2017, will ramp up businesses' responsibility for data security, increasing sanctions for mishandling it," he says. "In short, this means fines of up to two per cent of a business's annual global turnover and possibly a requirement to report a breach within 24 hours.

"This has ramifications for any strategy that is based around data - like BYOD, storage, internet of things and cloud. Because the changes in law are radical, organisations will have to work hard in 2015 to have a chance of complying and avoiding substantial fines when the new laws come in."

At the same time, this year will see even more businesses take advantage of the power of the data they hold. "From using analytics to gain greater business insight, to schemes such as the NHS' care.data initiative, organisations are doing more with their 'big data'," comments Midgley.

"However, due to the numerous data breach stories in the press, many organisations are unwilling to engage in innovative data schemes for fear of it increasing the chances of a data leak, as demonstrated by the difficulties care.data has run into. For many, there's a lot at stake, if this goes wrong: reputation, the risk of heavy fines from the ICO and public outcry that could put a halt on any progress already made.

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