jimnms
03-21-2005, 08:04 PM
The growing popularity of Mozilla-based Web browsers appears to be attracting the attention of the malicious hacking community.
Between July 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2004, the number of documented vulnerabilities affecting the Mozilla browser and Mozilla's Firefox browser was higher than the number of vulnerabilities affecting Microsoft's Internet Explorer, according to the latest Internet Security Threat Report from Symantec Corp released today.
The report, which provides an update of Internet threat activity worldwide every six months, noted 13 vulnerabilities affecting Internet Explorer. That compared to 21 vulnerabilities affecting the Mozilla and Mozilla Firefox browsers during the survey period.
Internet Explorer, however, still had a higher proportion of serious vulnerabilities, with nine of the 13 flaws rated as highly severe. By comparison, 11 of the 21 Mozilla browser flaws were deemed highly severe, and just seven of Firefox flaws were seen as highly severe. The Internet Explorer flaws also took longer to fix -- an average of 43 days, compared to 26 days for Mozilla browsers.
"We are starting to see Firefox and Mozilla get more attention from attackers, and that is likely to continue," said Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering at Symantec. "People who are writing Trojans and worms that get distributed via Web browser vulnerabilities are looking for the highest yield."
Historically, Internet Explorer has been the most targeted browser because of its widespread use, but that could begin to change as Mozilla browsers gain popularity, he said. Since 1997, Symantec has documented 313 vulnerabilities for Internet Explorer, and less than 100 for Mozilla browsers.
Full Story (http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,100541,00.html?source=x10)
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Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.
Between July 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2004, the number of documented vulnerabilities affecting the Mozilla browser and Mozilla's Firefox browser was higher than the number of vulnerabilities affecting Microsoft's Internet Explorer, according to the latest Internet Security Threat Report from Symantec Corp released today.
The report, which provides an update of Internet threat activity worldwide every six months, noted 13 vulnerabilities affecting Internet Explorer. That compared to 21 vulnerabilities affecting the Mozilla and Mozilla Firefox browsers during the survey period.
Internet Explorer, however, still had a higher proportion of serious vulnerabilities, with nine of the 13 flaws rated as highly severe. By comparison, 11 of the 21 Mozilla browser flaws were deemed highly severe, and just seven of Firefox flaws were seen as highly severe. The Internet Explorer flaws also took longer to fix -- an average of 43 days, compared to 26 days for Mozilla browsers.
"We are starting to see Firefox and Mozilla get more attention from attackers, and that is likely to continue," said Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering at Symantec. "People who are writing Trojans and worms that get distributed via Web browser vulnerabilities are looking for the highest yield."
Historically, Internet Explorer has been the most targeted browser because of its widespread use, but that could begin to change as Mozilla browsers gain popularity, he said. Since 1997, Symantec has documented 313 vulnerabilities for Internet Explorer, and less than 100 for Mozilla browsers.
Full Story (http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,100541,00.html?source=x10)
_____
Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.