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Skip Navigation LinksPC Authority > News > The innocent PDF is most popular target for malware attacks, says F-Secure
The innocent PDF is most popular target for malware attacks, says F-Secure
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The innocent PDF is most popular target for malware attacks, says F-Secure

by Zara Baxter  on Jun 26, 2009
Tags: security | F-Secure
F-Secure this morning released their summary of the state of play in computer security. Their conclusions? Conficker, social networking and PDFs are the face of Malware

F-Secure's bi-annual security report commended US President Barack Obama for his approach to cyber security, and singled out the Conficker worm, as well as singling out Social Networking and PDFs as current targets for malware.

Conficker still lurking

The ubiquitous Conficker worm came in for a mention, unsurprisingly, with F-secure noting that it's the most significant malware outbreak in recent years. Conficker B spread widely, infecting millions of computers worldwide - even though the media focus was on Variant C, which was designed to flood systems on April 1 this year and failed to materialize as a serious threat. Conficker is still out there, as F-Secure notes.

Social networking fuels malware attacks

The growth in social networking has meant a corresponding rise in social-network targeted malware. The last six months has seen the first Twitter worm and malicious search results about popular news stories are very common.

As F-Secure notes, "More than ever, social networking sites are both making the news and breaking the news - and in the process creating fast-spreading security problems that need to be addressed."

PDF files used for targeted attacks


F-Secure's research shows that PDF files have become the most popular file type in targeted attacks during the first half of this year2009. Adobe has responded with more frequent security reponse updates to tackle the growth in pdf exploits.

The full report can be viewed at www.f-secure.com/2009

 

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