In this latest whitepaper from software giant Symantec, it highlights the main security trends that organisations must be aware of in order to protect their equipment and IT infrastructures. These threats include:

Anti-virus is not enough
Malicious programmes are being created at a faster rate than good programmes which are designed to protect your systems.

Social engineering as the primary attack vector
More attackers are targeting the end user, attempting to trick them into divulging sensitive information.

Social networking third party applications will be the target of fraud
We are continuing to see huge growth in the popularity of social media sites. Some of the applications available on these sites are designed to obtain your personal information or gain access to your computer.

Fast flux botnets increase
This is a technique used by attackers to hide phishing and malicious websites and it's becoming more commonplace across the Internet.

URL shortening services will become the phishers best friend
When faced with a 'short URL' it's impossible to know where you will be directed to. This means that phishers can easily disguise their malicious sites and lead users astray.

This whitepaper isn't supposed to scare users into thinking they're constantly under attack from Internet fraudsters; it's designed to make you more aware of the security threats so you can put in place appropriate processes to protect your network.

Many of these processes will involve the end users themselves - for example being wary of suspicious emails, not giving out personal information online and not clicking on URL's if you don't know the site they're taking you to - others will stem from the IT department who will need to have appropriate anti-virus and encryption software in place.

To read the whitepaper in full, please click here