Large rise in rapidly propagating threats targeting internal networks

Mirage Networks Inc.has released an analysis of the information security environment for the year to date. So far 83 new worms have been introduced since January 1st 2004 that have the ability to rapidly propagate without any action required by end-users. These worms are the most dangerous threats to corporate networks, as they are self-replicating and can find and exploit vulnerabilities on a massive scale. This group of threats includes Sasser, Witty, Cycle, and new variants of Gaobot and Welchia. Growing from five rapidly propagating threats (RPTs) released in January, to a combined 62 RPTs in April and May, the growth trend seems likely to continue over the summer months.

"In addition to the growing number of RPTs, there is also a shrinking window of time between when a vulnerability is announced and when exploit code is developed," said Greg Stock, vice president, sales and marketing, Mirage Networks. "With less and less time to patch effectively, it is essential that IT organisations put in place technology that can automatically contain these mounting threats without requiring signatures to be developed and updated."

Contrary to rapidly propagating threats, some of the slower propagating threats seem to be reducing. Mass mailers - like MyDoom - that require some form of human intervention to propagate, have fallen from 54 new releases in March 2004 to only 14 in May 2004.

www.miragenetworks.com

•Date: 17th June 2004 •Region: Worldwide •Type: Article •Topic: ISM
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