Thursday, 17 May 2012
PDF now most common file type in targeted attacks, F-Secure says
PDF now most common file type in targeted attacks, F-Secure says
By SearchSecurityAsia editors | May 12, 2009
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PrintFor this year so far, PDF is the most common file type in targeted attacks, according to the latest statistics released by IT security firm F-Secure Security Labs. Based on its report released last week, F-Secure has found 663 targeted attack files in 2009. Last year, the firm identified some 1,968 targeted attack files. The most popular file type was Microsoft Word representing 34.55%, followed by Acrobat Reader 26.61%.
Adobe is leading the count this year primarily because there has been more vulnerabilities in Adobe Acrobat Reader than in the Microsoft Office applications, F-Secure said. Last week, for instance, the security firm discovered two vulnerabilities called 'getAnnots' and 'spell.customDictionaryOpen', existing in Adobe Acrobat Reader’ JavaScript function. Such vulnerabilities allow remote code execution, which can be used in targeted attacks and drive-by downloads, it said.
"There are PoCs (Proof of Concept) available for both vulnerabilities but so far no in-the-wild attacks. For safety reasons, we strongly recommend users to disable its ability to run JavaScript," said Chia Wing Fei, F-Secure security response manager.
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