Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Cyber Attacks Decline; Vulnerabilities Surge

    By
    Dennis Fisher
    -
    February 3, 2003
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      The number of attacks on Internet-connected machines decreased over the past six months while the number of software vulnerabilities continued to skyrocket, according to a new report.

      In the last half of 2002, the number of attacks per week at a given company fell by 6 percent to 30, compared to the previous six months. Also, fewer companies experienced at least one severe event. The report indicates that 21 percent of companies had such an event, less than half the number that reported a severe attack during the same period in 2001.

      And, less than two percent of all incidents were found to be aggressive attacks. That is, concentrated attacks on a particular target. In fact, fully 85 percent of all of the attack activity the respondents reported was classified as simple pre-attack reconnaissance.

      “It appears that attacker aggression declined during the past six months. This observation, coupled with observations by Symantec analysts, supports the conventional wisdom that most attackers search for a few vulnerabilities to exploit and will abandon their efforts if these vulnerabilities are unavailable,” the report concludes.

      The report, published by Symantec Corp., of Cupertino, Calif., is based on data from more than 400 companies.

      The company said it recorded more than 2,500 newly identified vulnerabilities in various software products during all of 2002, an 81.5 percent increase over the previous year. And, there were 84.7 percent more moderate and severe vulnerabilities found than there were in 2001.

      Several factors may have contributed to this increase, including the huge jump in recent years in the number of researchers looking for vulnerabilities. This was once an obscure and generally thankless task. Now, in addition to the independent researchers, most major security vendors employ full-time staffs that do nothing but hunt for bugs and vulnerabilities.

      Once again, attackers in the United States were by far the most eager to exploit those vulnerabilities. U.S. crackers accounted for more than 35 percent of all of the attacks during the reporting period. South Korea, China, Germany and France rounded out the top five. However, the South Koreans appear to have the most attackers per capita among countries with the largest online populations, launching 23.7 attacks per 10,000 Internet users. The U.S. is not in the top 10 on this list.

      Dennis Fisher

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×