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<\/a><\/p>\nMultiple OS Threats<\/b>: It used to be that malware programs were designed for specific operating systems. It also used to be the case that Windows was targeted far more frequently than Mac OS. Neither is as true as it used to be. Newer threats<\/a> like the Morcut Trojan disguise themselves as applets or plugins and can download onto any system because they contain scripts appropriate for each and, once activated, they identify the operating system in use and inject the respective version of their malicious code. And after years of Macs being virtually free from threats, Apple products are now highly targeted<\/a>: Kaspersky Lab\u2019s antivirus experts created 30 percent more signatures to detect Mac Trojans in 2012 than they did in 2011. Among the most popular Mac malware programs are Trojan.OSX.FacCo.a and Jahlav, both of which are Trojans that disguise themselves as video codecs that actually are programs that steal user data and download more malicious programs.<\/p>\n Mobile Devices<\/b>: Nearly all mobile malware in 2012<\/a> was created to exploit devices running the Android platform, at least in part because there are more Android devices are sold<\/a> than iOS. but it is also because It is also because Google\u2019s open approach<\/a> to app sales opens a wider door for attackers than Apple does. There\u2019s another problem with Android: a lot of legitimate Android apps work with ad networks<\/a> that are that are shady at best and malicious at worst, accessing personal information like emails and phone numbers.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean that the App Store is free of malicious apps \u2014 the first suspicious application, called Find and Call \u2014 a program that sought user\u2019s email and phone number to inundate them with spam \u2014 was detected in July, 2012.<\/p>\n Whatever the platform, these threats can escalate from annoying spam to identify theft. Mobile malware programs can be used to access user emails, steal address information from their phonebooks, use geolocation to track users, activate their cameras to facilitate identity theft, and even take over the phones, making them one more tentacle in massive global botnets.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just smartphones that are the targets of attacks \u2014 tablets and smart TVs<\/a> are also being attacked.<\/p>\n Usual Suspects<\/b>: Traditional forms of spamming such as phishing<\/a> that most online users have caught on to are growing in popularity on mobile devices, because what is more readily visible and identifiable as a scam on a large laptop or PC screen is harder to decipher on a small, handheld monitor \u2014 and because the address bar is rarely seen on mobile applications. Playing into this is the use of online-oriented scams \u2014 like fake emails from banks or travel sites \u2014 as well as social media sites like Twitter, where attackers can create enticing links<\/a> \u2014 and disguise them with url shorteners like bit.ly \u2014 that unwittingly send users to harmful sites.<\/p>\n Kids Stuff<\/b>: This new wave of versatile threats can target children, and can also utilize their carelessness to spread malware.<\/p>\n