Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Security
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Microsoft readies first attack forecast

Slates 'Exploitability Index' predictions for tomorrow's bugs

October 13, 2008 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Microsoft Corp. will debut vulnerability predictions tomorrow when it issues 11 security updates for Windows, Office and Internet Explorer.

Announced more than two months ago, the "Exploitability Index" will be added to the bulletins that accompany each update. Microsoft's security experts will rate each vulnerability using a three-step ranking, in descending order of severity:

  • Consistent exploit code likely
  • Inconsistent exploit code likely
  • Functioning exploit code unlikely

Microsoft expects that users and corporate IT administrators will combine the index rating with the company's current threat rankings, which estimate the potential impact as "critical" through "low," to prioritize patches.

Also tomorrow, Microsoft is expected to reveal more information about another new program it talked up in August, Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP). An information-sharing effort, MAPP gives select security vendors an early jump on crafting exploit signatures by providing technical details of to-be-patched vulnerabilities before updates are issued. Prior to the program, security vendors had to wait like any customer for Microsoft to issue its patches before they could begin examining the bugs and start developing anti-exploit protection.

Microsoft has not said which security vendors are participating in the program, how far in advance they are given the information or even the amount or type of data that it will share.

In response to questions last Friday, a Microsoft spokesman would only say, "There will be some new information [about MAPP], along with the Exploitability Index, come Tuesday with the bulletin release."

However, it appears that security companies that have been accepted into MAPP received previews of tomorrow's vulnerabilities as early as last Thursday. At that time, a spokeswoman for nCircle Network Security Inc. said that because the company had joined MAPP, its researchers would not be available for comment on the prepatch notification that Microsoft released that day.

Microsoft will release its 11 security updates around 1 p.m. EDT tomorrow.

Read more about security in Computerworld's Security Knowledge Center.



Jump to comments

Microsoft

Additional Resources

EFD vs. HDD - What You Need to Know
WHITE PAPER
Enterprise flash drives provide a new Tier 0 storage layer capable of delivering high I/O performance at a very low latency. Proper use of EFDs in an Oracle environment can deliver increased performance compared to fibre channel drives. Read the recommendations for identification of the best DB components for EFDs.
Gartner Research Report: Magic Quadrant for Application Delivery Controllers, 2009
WHITE PAPER
The market for products to improve the delivery of application software over networks remains dynamic and innovative. Vendors focused on solving enterprises' most-pressing application problems have become the top players.
Eight Criteria for Server Load Balancing
WHITE PAPER
Server load balancers are a simple yet highly effective means to scale an application environment while ensuring its availability. Today's solutions should also address application performance and security. Read about the top eight criteria you should consider when choosing a server load balancer and how Citrix NetScaler meets those requirements.

What People Are Saying

White Papers & Webcasts

Death to PST Files
Download Now  

Web 2.0, Social Media and the Dark Web - A Web Criminals Paradise?
In this discussion, learn about the challenges of protecting your users from the potentially unsafe content hidden in the "Dark Web".

eGuide: Enterprise Security
Smart Security Strategies for 2010. Read now!  

Disaster Recovery 2008: Reduced Costs and Improved Performance
How long can your Enterprise afford to be without your data? With an accelerated disaster recovery program, you never have to answer this...


IT Jobs