IBM Internet Security Systems X-Force 2007 Trend Statistics

The IBM Internet Security Systems X-Force® research and development team discovers, analyzes, monitors and records a wide array of computer security threats and vulnerabilities. According to X-Force observations, many new and surprising trends surfaced during 2007. The implications of these trends provide a useful backdrop in preparing to enhance information security in 2008.

For the first time, X-Force witnessed a reduction (-5.4 percent) in new vulnerability disclosures from the previous year. The drop could represent an anomaly, a statistical correction or a new trend in the amount of disclosures. 2005 and 2006 saw large spikes in vulnerability growth (approximately 41 percent each year) that were well above the X-Force Database historical average (27 percent a year). The 5.4 percent decline in 2007 could simply be a statistical correction to the growth in vulnerabilities in 2005 and 2006. Although the number of disclosures dipped in 2007, the drop (5.4 percent) is less dramatic than the decrease in vulnerability growth witnessed between 2002 and 2003 — as shown in Figure 1 and Table 1.

Although there was a decrease in overall vulnerabilities, high-priority vulnerabilities increased by 28 percent. Researchers could simply be focusing on the sometimes more difficult, high-priority finds.

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