Online gamers, social networks and sensitive corporate data are among the top potential targets for online attacks in 2008.

This was revealed in a latest Internet Security Outlook Report issued today by CA. The report features Internet security predictions for 2008 and also reports on trends from 2007, the company said in a statement.

“Cyber-criminals go where opportunity lies and take advantage of any and all vulnerabilities,” said Ganesan Lakshmanan, team leader of security management at CA.

“While security protection is becoming better at detecting malware, online thieves are getting smarter and stealthier in the way they attack our computers,” he added.
“The Middle East’s technology sector is growing faster than many other regions, but many enterprises still see security as an after-thought or even a single, grudging deployment,” said Lakshmanan.

“There is an acute need for greater security oversight among the region’s business community.  Enterprises should ensure that their internet service providers and vendors are providing them with constant, up-to-date security risk information,” he said.

Other predictions for 2008 are:

Bots will dominate 2008: The number of computers infected by botnets will increase sharply in 2008. In an effort to become harder to detect, bot-herders are changing their tactics and decentralising via peer-to-peer architectures. They are increasingly using instant messaging as their main vehicle for spreading botnets.

Smarter malware: There are new levels of sophistication in malware. Malware will target virtualized computers, and increasing use of obfuscation techniques to hide in plain sight, including steganography and encryptions, will help criminals conceal their activities.
Gamers under fire: Gamers already are a prized target, and stealing their account credentials continues to be a primary objective of online criminals.

Social networking sites in the crosshairs: Social networking sites will become increasingly popular and, as a result, more vulnerable. The large number of aggregated potential victims and relatively small concern for computer security make these sites a windfall for cyber thieves.

Key dates for opportunity: The U.S. presidential election and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing offer high-profile opportunities for destructive attacks and corruption or outright theft of information.

Web 2.0 services and sites will come under targeted attacks: While it is relatively easy to implement Web 2.0 services, it can be quite challenging to configure them to be totally secure. Therefore, many Internet sites using these services are easy targets with little outward indication that a site is compromised.

Windows Vista at risk: Although it is designed as Microsoft’s most secure operating system, 20 vulnerabilities were reported in 2007, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. As more people use it, the more attackers will target it.

Mobile devices will still be safe: Mobile devices are still safe, despite rumors of mobile malware. Smartphones and other mobile devices will not be a real opportunity for criminals in 2008. Proof-of-concept malware for mobile devices has not yet translated into any meaningful attacks. The only significant mobile vulnerability reported in 2007 was to the Apple iPhone.

“The digital footprints that are collected and stored whenever we use the Internet are incredibly valuable to marketers and to online criminals,” Lakshmanan said. “We’ve seen malware evolve from a cottage industry to a full-fledged fraud business. Shockingly, it is now operating with business practices and development similar to legitimate software organisations. Our attitude about protecting our Internet privacy and the subsequent actions<