New research indicates that enterprises will continue to grapple with long lists of dangerous software vulnerabilities during 2007, with experts at IBM predicting continued growth in the number of flaws found in popular products over the next twelve months.
According to a report published by IBM’s ISS (Internet Security Systems) X-Force research team on Jan. 30, the group observed just under 7,250 vulnerabilities during calendar 2006, which breaks down to an average of 20 new software flaws being isolated every day, and represents a 40 percent increase over the number of vulnerabilities discovered during 2005.
Perhaps even more imposing is the researchers’ contention that more than 88 percent of the newly-found vulnerabilities in ’06 could be exploited remotely, an all-time high, with over 50 percent allowing hackers to gain access to devices after the flaws have been flaunted.
With the launch of high-profile new software systems such as Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system in 2007, the researchers with IBM, based in Armonk, N.Y., are predicting that the next twelve months could be even more threatening from a security standpoint.
While developers of Vista and other products are putting more effort into securing their code and eliminating security loopholes, the experts said that the sheer complexity of such programs will create even more vulnerabilities.
Read the full story on eWEEK.com: IBM Researchers Predict More Vulnerabilities in ’07.
