5 cyber threats to watch for in 2015

The Sony hack -- and the FBI's conclusion that North Korea is responsible -- renewed security professionals' discussions of an ongoing cyberwar between countries and other opposing entities. Experts say we can expect more skirmishes to play out online rather than on the battlefield.

"Experts have been calling it a 'cyber Cold War' for some time, and that's only ramping up quickly," said Chris Petersen, CTO and co-founder of security intelligence company LogRhythm. "Nation-states both weak and strong see cyberattacks as a weapon to counter the global influence of the U.S."

Petersen also expects an increase in governments' use of malicious software to spy on certain individuals' activity. Last month Amnesty International released an anti-spyware tool that scans devices for government surveillance software.

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Overall, the experts think the number of cyberattacks will increase during 2015 and beyond. It's scary stuff, but they hope the public conversation and awareness will increase as well.

"It doesn't happen overnight, but making changes requires starting the conversation," Petersen said. "Unfortunately, I do think truly moving forward will take a few years."

In the meantime, Coggeshall, the LifeLock executive, reiterated a handful of best practices "that will really protect the average person from the majority of attacks levied against them": Keep antivirus software updated, use strong passwords, never put sensitive personal information online or emails, exercise extreme caution when clicking links or downloading attachments and don't sign into accounts when using public Wi-Fi networks.

"We still have to tell people this stuff, which I think shows that in the next years we'll still be in this general discussion phase," said Thompson of Blue Coat. "There will be more breaches. But there will also be more and more discussion over dinner tables, and that's where awareness begins."

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5 cyber threats to watch for in 2015