What will 2012 bring? We can't know for sure

Stuxnet and the specter of sophisticated, state-sponsored attacks were still dominating the news a year ago, as 2010 ended and we welcomed the New Year. Soon enough, however, there would be a new phenomenon to contend with: hacktivists. As the attack on HBGary Federal and Sony showed, faceless online activists or anarchists can do plenty of damage to even sophisticated and well protected firms. Soon enough, attention shifted from the People’s Liberation Army in China to finished basements across the U.S., where disaffected teens were joining the ranks of groups like Anonymous and Lulzsec to exact revenge on firms for slights both real and imagined.

What will 2012 bring? We can’t know for sure. Recent years have taught us that, when it comes to computer security, one should expect to be surprised. However, it’s equally true that in the realm of computer security, “what’s past is prologue,” as Shakespeare famously wrote. In other words: the events of the past year have helped to set the stage for the big events (and news stories) of 2012. What are those likely to be? Here’s Threatpost’s list of 2012 trends: