14 DAY TRIAL // If until now the hackers have mostly targeted Microsoft's software products, starting with this year, it seems their attention has been drawn to other products and services: security solutions or download services like Apple's iTunes.
According to a recently published study, the hackers didn't give up on toying with security breaches of the Microsoft systems and products. However, it's clear they are exploring new territories besides the old Windows.
Once the users have started to automatically accept updates sent by Microsoft, the hackers have oriented towards other products that don't have a high rate of security patch release like Windows does.
A spokesman from the SANS Institute, the center that carried out the this study, has declared that the reason why operating systems are less targeted by hackers, is the improvement of the patch security applying and updating procedures. The security breaches are exploited to obtain personal information, credit card numbers, or to use the infected system to send spam or pornographic content. SANS announces that since the beginning of the year, 600 breaches have appeared, 20 of them, rated as extremely dangerous, still being unsolved.
In this period, the software products developed by Oracle Corp, Computer Associates International Inc., but also the multimedia solutions: iTunes, RealPlayer and Winamp have started to be more and more targeted by hackers. The antivirus programs have not remained unharmed by the malicious exploitation, and among the most targeted are the solutions produced by F-Secure, TrendMicro and McAfee.