A dramatic surge in zero-day attacks and exploits of Microsoft Office have been the two most important threat trends for 2006, the SANS Institute reports.
November 20, 2006
URL:http://www.drdobbs.com/security/zero-day-attacks-top-security-threat-lis/194500187
For the big picture on IT security, consider what the influential SANS Institute calls the two most important trends this year: a dramatic surge in zero-day attacks and multiple exploits of Microsoft Office. Oh, and keep an eye on voice-over-IP attacks.
A zero-day attack? | |
A related trend is the big jump in attacks exploiting vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Office suite. Those attacks, which began in May with a zero-day assault against Word, continued through the summer, with Microsoft repeatedly patching the apps. Qualys, a security researcher and SANS list collaborator, says Office vulnerabilities tripled, and about 20% were zero-day vulnerabilities.
VoIP, meanwhile, is a risk to watch. Researchers worry about it being used to attack the conventional phone network. "The traditional phone network has never been accessible to hackers directly," says Rohit Dhamankar, senior manager of security research at 3Com's TippingPoint, "but if you can compromise a [VoIP] server, there's a chance you can craft special messages to the traditional network, perhaps crash the network."
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