Statistics: (2736 Views) (0 Comments) Print Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2008 Categories: Technical Topics, Security Analysis

Software security remains a hot topic. Everyone from grandmothers to Fortune 500 companies has heard the stories of identity theft, data loss, and general mayhem caused by viruses and attackers on the Internet. In the first quarter of 2008 alone, 1,474 different software vulnerabilities were reported with only 64 of them having posted solutions. That's a resolution rate of about 4%. With all the buzz about software and system security, the computer world may seem to be in total chaos, leading many to ask, "How vulnerable am I?"

In this article I present some of the results of a recent security project at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), along with additional research. My intention is to demonstrate what software security is by demystifying common terminology and providing realistic examples of typical security exploits.

This article is not intended to provide a comprehensive computer security education, but rather to serve as an introduction to some of the key topics in the vast and expanding field of information security.

Author: Bob Breznak