Number: IRCNE2014082302
Date: 2014-08-30
According to “techworld”, most admins already know that Java and Adobe’s Flash and Reader are the most vulnerable pieces of software on the average Windows PC. A new analysis from Heimdal Security suggests that while 2014 has been better than last year vendors and customers remains pretty snowed under by the number of vulnerabilities in these programs.
Looking at the last three years to 2014 (so far), it becomes obvious that 2013 was an extreme outlier, showing soaring public vulnerability numbers, in particular for Java, which reached a stunning total of 180.
The numbers of vulnerabilities revealed each month has also reduced somewhat, almost back to 2012 levels, even if Java has managed to record 90 in 2014 with some months still to go. But the average CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) rating for these flaws remains high at between a 7 and a 9 across these programs.
Java, in particular, is a headache, so much so that it should probably be removed from every and any system that doesn’t need it.
”Our intelligence data from the last 3 years, shows that more than 99 percent of computers running on Windows operating systems are likely to use either Java, Acrobat Reader or Flash Player,” said Heimdal’s CEO, Morten Kjaersgaard.
Vulnerabilities don’t tell the whole story, for example how many are exploited in real attacks. But there is a relationship between the vulnerability of software and the likelihood of that happening.
“Software manufacturers such as Oracle, Adobe and Apple need to step up their game in patching software quickly and software users need to take into consideration that they are left on their own with wide open computers at the moment.”
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