The company has just released its mid-year threat outlook report which predicts that online gaming is going to be as risky as online banking, identity theft is going to get a lot more targeted, and we will see doubling of malware exploits, and new software vulnerabilities.

CA says gamers are "under siege." The second most common malware seen this year is designed to steal gaming passwords while characters and virtual money are sold in underground web sites that rival legitimate commodity markets, the company said.

"Everyone using the internet should be aware of the nature and severity of online threats—especially gamers, social network users, seniors, tweens and their parents," said Brian Grayek, vice president of Threat Research for CA.
 
Other predictions from the report include:

- Growth in "Spear-phishing" – with phishers targeting specific individuals based on age and other factors to use their personal information to open credit cards.

- Mozilla Firefox will no longer be considered more secure than Microsoft Internet Explorer; and conventional wisdom that Apple Mac OS X is more secure than Microsoft Windows will crumble.

- Internet crime groups will look more like legitimate software businesses. No more attention-seeking hackers—organised groups of criminals have developers, marketers and distribution channels. Many are located in Eastern Europe and China.

- Criminals will increasingly target lower profile but useful software, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader and Macromedia Flash, to exploit security holes. At the current rate, we'll see twice the number of vulnerabilities in Reader and Flash.

- Social networks are under fire for security weaknesses. Not only are they subject to the same weaknesses as web sites—SQL injection, cross-site scripting attacks and forgeries—but the ability to create web pages allows a criminal to post malicious code. On a social network, attacks move faster because everyone is interconnected. Mobile social networks can also be easily attacked—providing information for stalking and other crimes.

The CA Security Advisor Team offers the following tips.

Let the technology work for you
All computers in your house should be protected with antivirus, anti-spyware and anti-spam software
* Use a personal firewall and learn how to configure it with online gaming to resolve interference
* Secure the network router
* Keep all software updated
* Adjust Web browsers for increased security
* Back up data
* Use an anti-phishing toolbar.

Practice safe internet surfing
Don't open e-mail from unknown people
Make sure banking, webmail and financial sites are secure
Use encryption to protect sensitive data, especially on laptops
Be cautious about instant messaging
Avoid P2P networks if possible
Be wary about letting others use your computer
When using public computers, be extra alert.

For the kids
Tell children not to respond to messages that are threatening, suggestive or make them uncomfortable
Teach children to protect their privacy
Make the Internet a family activity
Install parental controls with Web filtering and optional time restrictions
Explain to children that not everything they read online is true.