IBM X-Force Report: Cyber Threats Accelerate, Browser Vulnerabilities Proliferate in First Half of 2008

Mid-Year Report From IBM Internet Security Systems X-Force® Finds 94 Percent of Browser-Related Exploits Occurred Within 24 Hours of Vulnerability Disclosure

ARMONK, NY–(EMWNews – July 29, 2008) – IBM (NYSE: IBM) today released results from its

X-Force 2008 Midyear Trend Statistics report that indicates cyber-criminals

are adopting new automation techniques and strategies that allow them to

exploit vulnerabilities much faster than ever before. The new tools are

being implemented on the Internet by organized criminal elements, and at

the same time public exploit code published by researchers are putting more

systems, databases and ultimately, people at risk of compromise.

According to the X-Force report, 94 percent of all browser-related online

exploits occurred within 24 hours of official vulnerability disclosure.

These attacks, known-as “zero-day” exploits, are on the Internet before

people even know they have a vulnerability that needs to be patched in

their systems.

This phenomenon is being driven by sophisticated cyber-criminals’ adoption

and evolution of automated tools for creating and delivering exploit tools,

as well as the lack of a set protocol for disclosing vulnerabilities in the

research industry. The practice of disclosing exploit code along with a

security advisory has been the accepted practice for many security

researchers. However, according to the X-Force report, vulnerabilities

disclosed by independent researchers are twice as likely to have zero-day

exploit code published, calling into question how researchers practice

vulnerability disclosure and signifying the need for a new standard in the

industry.

“The two major themes in the first half of 2008 were acceleration and

proliferation,” said X-Force Operations Manager Kris Lamb. “We see a

considerable acceleration in the time a vulnerability is disclosed to when

it is exploited, with an accompanying proliferation of vulnerabilities

overall. Without a unified process for disclosing vulnerabilities, the

research industry runs the risk of actually fueling online criminal

activity. There’s a reason why X-Force doesn’t publish exploit code for the

vulnerabilities we have found, and perhaps it is time for others in our

field to reconsider this practice.”

Key findings from the X-Force report include:

--  Browser plug-ins are the newest target-of-choice. The threat landscape

    has evolved from the operating system to the Web browser to browser plug-

    ins. In the first six months of 2008, roughly 78 percent of web browser

    exploits targeted browser plug-ins.

    

--  One-off manual attacks are growing into massive automated attacks.

    More than half of all vulnerability disclosures were related to web server

    applications. Structured Query Language (SQL) injection vulnerabilities, in

    particular, jumped from 25 percent in 2007 to 41 percent of all web server

    application vulnerabilities in the first half of 2008, and corresponded

    with a rash of automated attacks that compromised servers in an effort to

    compromise more endpoint systems.

    

--  Spammers go back to basics. The complex spam of 2007 (image-based

    spam, file attachment spam, etc.) has almost disappeared and now spammers

    are using simple URL spam. This spam generally consists of a few simple

    words and a URL, making it difficult for spam filters to detect.

    Approximately 90 percent of spam is now URL spam.

    

--  Russia continues to be origin of most spam. Russia is responsible for

    11 percent of the world's spam followed by Turkey with 8 percent and then

    the United States with 7.1 percent.

    

--  Online gamers are targets. As online games and virtual communities

    continue to gain popularity, they are becoming an enticing target for cyber-

    criminals. The X-Force report indicates that the top four password-stealing

    Trojans were all aimed at gamers. The goal is to steal gamers' virtual

    assets selling them for real money in online market places.

    

--  Financial institutions remain key targets for phishers. All but two of

    the top 20 phishing targets were financial institutions.

    

--  Secure virtualization grows in importance. Virtualization-related

    vulnerability disclosures have tripled since 2006 and are likely to

    increase as virtualized environments become more widespread.

    

IBM is the world’s leading provider of risk and security solutions. Clients

around the world team with IBM to help reduce the complexities of security

and strategically manage risk. IBM’s experience and range of risk and

security solutions are unsurpassed — from dedicated research, software,

hardware, services and global Business Partner value — helping clients

secure business operations and implement company-wide, integrated risk

management programs.

For more security trends and predictions from IBM, including graphical

representations of security statistics, please access the full report at:

www.ibm.com/services/us/iss/xforce/midyearreport

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