According to a new report from IBM, vulnerability exposures reached record levels in the first half of the year. This info comes courtesy of IBM’s X-Force 2-1- Mid-Year Trend and Risk Report.
Over 4,300 new vulnerabilities were documented by IBM’s R&D team during this time period. This is a 36% increase from the same period last year. 55% of the disclosed vulnerabilities had now vendor-supplied patch at the end of the period.
Here’s what the pattern looks like dating back to 2000:
The good news is that the vulnerabilities are being discovered and reported.
"Threat dynamics continue to multiply and evolve at a furious pace, making it more crucial than ever to look at unfolding trends so we can better prepare our clients for the future," says Steve Robinson, general manager, IBM Security Solutions. "This year’s X-Force report reveals that although threats are on the rise, the industry as a whole is getting much more vigilant about reporting vulnerabilities."
The report indicates that web app vulnerabilities were the leading threat , accounting for over half of all public disclosures. Covert attacks increased in complexity, as is to be expected, but particularly within PDFs and Javascript.