Web apps and social networks offer cyber criminals easy targets

There has been a significant increase in the number of cyber criminals targeting data centers and networks over the last few years. The weapons of choice for such criminals are ‘web exploit toolkits’. These ‘packaged’ attack frameworks are traded online, enabling attackers to access enterprise IT systems and steal sensitive data.
According to the HP- FullYear2010 Risk Report published by HP, web exploit toolkits are popular due to ease of use and high success rate.
“We’ve discovered that rather than investing resources to uncover new exploits, attackers are focused on current, unpatched vulnerabilities in web applications, social networking sites and Web 2.0 interfaces,” said Mike Dausin, manager, Advanced Security Intelligence, HP DVLabs.
Web apps represent half of all security vulnerabilities and continue to plague large businesses (enterprises). Businesses and governments can reduce risk with improved security practices, such as keeping their security systems up to date.