Global Security Threats Reaches Record Levels, IBM X-Force Reports

IBM (News - Alert) released the results of its X-Force 2010 Mid-Year Trend and Risk Report, which showed that vulnerability disclosures are increasing dramatically, having reached record levels for the first half of 2010.

Overall, 4,396 new vulnerabilities were documented by the X-Force Research and Development team in the first half of 2010, a 36 percent increase over the same time period last year. Over half, 55 percent, of all these disclosed vulnerabilities had no vendor-supplied patch at the end of the period.

According to the report, Web application vulnerabilities continued to be the leading threat, accounting for more than half of all public disclosures. In addition, covert attacks increased in complexity hidden within JavaScript and Portable Document Formats (PDFs), while cloud computing and virtualization were noted as key future security topics for enterprise organizations. 

In the first-half of 2010, organizations were doing more to identify and disclose security vulnerabilities than ever before. This in turn is having positive effects on the industry by driving more open collaboration to identify and eliminate vulnerabilities before cyber criminals can exploit them.

Web application vulnerabilities continue to be the largest category of vulnerability disclosures. Web application vulnerabilities have surpassed all other threats to account for 55 percent of all disclosures.

While Web application vulnerabilities continue to climb at a steady rate, these figures may only represent the tip of the iceberg of total Web application vulnerabilities that exist, as they do not include custom-developed Web applications which can also introduce vulnerabilities. 

Covert, hidden attack methods grew in frequency and complexity, especially involving JavaScript. Enterprises are fighting increasingly sophisticated attacks on their computer networks, including Advanced Persistent Threats.

These sophisticated attackers are employing covert means to break into networks without being detected by traditional security tools. JavaScript obfuscation is a particularly popular technique used by all classes of computer criminals to hide their exploits within document files and Web pages. IBM detected a 52 percent increase in obfuscated attacks during the first half of 2010 versus the same period in 2009. 

PDF exploits continue to soar as attackers trick users in new ways. X-Force started observing widespread use of PDF-based exploits during the first half of 2009. Since then, it has captured three of the top five slots for browser exploits used in the wild. The most significant jump associated with PDF attacks in 2010 occurred in April, when IBM Managed Security Services detected almost 37 percent more attack activity than the average for the first half of 2010. This spike coincided with a widespread spam campaign in which malicious PDF attachments were used to spread the Zeus and Pushdo botnets, some of the most insidious threats on the Internet today.

Phishing activity declined, but financial institutions remain the top target. Phishing volume has fluctuated wildly over the past few years. The first half of 2010 has only seen a fraction of the phishing attacks that were seen at the peak in 2009, a decline of almost 82 percent. Despite this drastic decline, financial institutions are still the number one phishing target, representing about 49 percent of all phishing e-mails, while credit cards, governmental organizations, online payment institutions and auctions represent the majority of other targets.