Beware The Browser…

By Guy Bunker | April 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Symantec’s latest Internet Security Threat Report came out today and one of the trends highlighted is the Internet browser. It’s not just the browser that has vulnerabilities it is also the plug-ins. The average time to fix a problem in the browser is around a week, but some of the maximum times are around six months! However, at least there are fixes and providing you have auto-updates switched on, or have the ‘check for new version’ you should get these pretty quickly after they come out.

However, there were 424 vulnerabilities in browser plug-ins and these are seldomly updated automatically. The most popular vulnerability is memory corruption which enables the cyber-criminal to run any piece of code and basically take over the machine or do whatever they like. Most of the threats are to your confidential information. Social engineering attacks are also in the running, which ultimately result in the user inadvertently installing malware on their machine.

Many of the pieces of malware are now multi-functional, with many allowing remote access, exporting user data and logging keystrokes at the same time. What does this mean, well if you happen to be doing a bit of on-line banking (or shopping) then the cyber-criminal could end up with your bank or credit card details… and they you could become a victim of fraud or worse still identity theft.

New pieces of malware have been created which can be used to become whatever is needed – by downloading content or the payload from cyber-criminal web sites. So, they can be spambots one day and run denial of service the next. Conficker / Downadup is probably the most infamous of this type of malware, although it is unclear as to what the payload is going to be. Having your machine host a spam service unknowingly or perhaps participate in a denial-of-service attack is not good.

So if you are an organization then you need to look at your security and patching policy. Ensure that the latest security definitions are delivered to your users in a timely manner – this will keep you protected while you work on patching the OS and applications. You should also look at a policy for patching or regularly updating browser plug-ins as well.

If you are an individual, then you should also keep your security definitions up to date and also ensure that the OS and application updates are installed. So, if a reminder appears on the screen that an update is available – then install it now, don’t put it off. You may regret it later. istr2009-2