Cisco will be releasing its 2009 Midyear security report sometime today.  Cisco is another one of those rare companies capable of writing extremely technical information in a way that is accessible to mainstream readers.  As such, I highly suggest that everyone even remotely interested in internet security download and read the report.  But don't worry, if you don't want to read the whole thing, I will and I will report back on findings I find particularly interesting.

Since I am (im)patiently waiting for the 2009 Midyear Security report, now seems like a good time to look back at Cisco's 2008 Annual Security Report - specifically the section in which Cisco made some predictions for the top trends of 2009.   In the 2008 Annual Report, Cisco identified four major trends to watch for in 2009.  These trends are:

• Smaller, More Frequent, Targeted Attacks
• Cross-Protocol Attacks
• Reputation Hijacking
• Mobility, Remote Working, and New Tools as Risk Factors

With few exceptions all of these trends have reared their ugly heads in 2009 and, luckily, we have written about many of these on this blog.  Today's news contains an example of smaller, more frequently, highly targeted attacks.  There is a phishing email going around that specifically targets Bank of America customers.  According to BitDefender, the Bank of America is "the number one spoofed bank identity in the world."

I am especially looking forward to two things that I hope will be in this report.  First, I would love to read what Cisco has to say about the security problems that have befallen Twitter.  It seems like every company/political entity/non-profit has a Twitter account, however, I don't think that many have taken the time to seriously consider the security implications of this popular service.  And second, I cannot wait to read what Cisco has to say about Conficker.  Despite the fact that the April Fools Day attack never materialized, Conficker has been incredibly active!