ANTenna Blog -- Security

Ready for your cellphone to get grabbed by a botnet? What happens if your VOIP system is targeted by blackmailers? Those are just a couple of the cybercrime concerns raised by a new report from Georgia Tech's computer security watchers and researchers.

The 2009 (and beyond) cybercrime forecast from Georgia Tech's Information Security Center (GTISC) maps a territory already infested with malware and threats -- and getting worse.

With 15 percent or so of the world's computers already botnet-infected -- up 50 percent over the past year -- GTISC views the threat not only as the fastest-spreading, but also as the attack tool with the largest potential to widen its targets.

Specifically, GTISC warns, botnets targeting cellphones and, once the phones are compromised targeting the larger cellular network, looms as a major security challenge -- and a potentially devastating economic attack vector.

VOIP networks are another attractive target, the report warns: the crooks' goal would be to threaten a denial of service attack and reap blackmail money from the network operators.

If GTISC's accuracy average is even roughly equivalent to Georgia Tech's current football standings (5-1; 4-0 at home) we're in for a scary year ahead.

Read the entire GTISC report here.