Imperva will be hosting a webinar on these trends this Thursday.

As the world spins towards a new decade, the battle between cyber-criminals and data protection professionals is already intensifying, according to Imperva, the Data Security leader.

Imperva , predicts five key security trends for 2010:

1. The industrialization of hacking with clear definition of roles developing within the hacking community forming a supply chain that starkly resembles that of drug cartels. The weapons of choice will be automated tools such as malware distributed via botnets.
2. A move from application to data security as cyber-criminals look for new ways to bypass existing security measures and focus on obtaining information.
3. Increasing attacks on social network sites where vulnerable and less technically savvy groups are susceptible to phishing attacks and malware.
4. An increase in password theft/grabbing attacks as it is perceived that by obtaining credentials for one application - like an email account - these will also apply to other applications such as online banking and Paypal accounts.
5. A move from reactive to pro-active security as organizations move from sitting back and waiting to be breached, to actively seeking holes and plugging them.

Amichai Shulman, Imperva CTO, advises application owners to tackle these trends head on. He says: "Organizations that are serious about protecting data must learn to protect data at the source, utilizing a number of technologies including a data-based firewalls combined with data and file activity monitoring," explained Shulman.

"I see automation as a major issue and technical measures will be needed to combat this trend. Organizations must look to integrate their protection tools with proactive security measures. The security community is currently developing solutions that will become widely available over the next few years. The next decade must see the IT security industry rise up and stand shoulder to shoulder if it is to win the fight against cyber-criminals."

Imperva will be hosting a webinar on these trends this Thursday.