This isn’t Murphy's Law. It’s mine: “The more complex things become, the more vulnerable”.
This is dedicated to tazgecko for reminding me to get off my duff and do this article. Thanks, mate, and an early, Happy Oz Day to you!
So, Cisco has put out it's 2010 Security Report analyzing events and projecting trends for 2011.
Link: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/vpndevc/security_annual_report_2010.pdf
The Good:
There have been several large botnets “taken down” as a result of heightened Law Enforcement activity and prosecution. This has resulted in much less spam (90% less, in fact), and fewer attacks, but the number and rate are still alarming.
Also, large software vendors like Microsoft and Apple have been improving updates and notifications to customers about potential/actual flaws and patches or other “mitigators”.
The Bad:
Apple has been forced to deploy more than sixty patches to it's iOS 4 mobile platform and the Zeus-Trojan targeting Symbian OS phones are proof that miscreants are trying to exploit “Zero Day” vulnerabilities. I've reported on that in prior articles with respect to iE and all Windows OS's except W7.
Simply put, we're seeing evolution at work: Our “antibiotics” are creating more and more cybercriminals seeking easier “targets of opportunity”. The cybercriminals are moving from the desktop to the mobile devices.
Worse, efforts at “jail breaking” phones and other devices removes them from the security umbrella that was built into limiting their “point of access”.
The Stuxnet trojan/virus is another example, although it's purported use against Iran's nuclear effort was “good”, it will be modified by hackers for “bad” ends: Identity theft and other nefarious purposes.
So, while brief, and these are just some of the high points (or low points) from the forty five page Cisco Report, this summary should “encourage” you to “be careful out there”.