Adobe top target for hackers in 2010: Report

Bangalore: The latest report by McAfee has pointed out that in 2010, Adobe Flash and Adobe Reader will be primary target for hackers. The "2010 Threat Predictions" report says that hackers are shifting their attention from Microsoft Office application to Adobe products as they become more popular, according to PC World.

"Cybercriminals have long picked on Microsoft products due to their popularity. In 2010, we anticipate Adobe software, especially Acrobat Reader and Flash, will take the top spot," reports McAfee. For a long Microsoft was the primary target of hackers but the software giant has tightened security in its recent OS releases, leading hackers to look for additional targets.

Adobe's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) acknowledged recently that his company's software is being attacked more frequently, and said the company has stepped up its efforts to respond. "We have absolutely seen an increase in the number of attacks, around Reader in particular and also Flash Player to some extent," CTO Kevin Lynch told reporters at the Adobe Max conference in October. "We're working to decrease the amount of time between when we know about a problem and when we release a fix. That used to be a couple of months; now it's within two weeks for critical issues."

Mozilla is now widely used by many netizens and has been hence under attack by hackers along with Apple's Quick Time. Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter have already been under a few attacks this year. McAfee predicts that these attacks will increase further. "The explosion of applications on Facebook and other services will be an ideal vector for cybercriminals, who will take advantage of friends trusting friends to click links they might otherwise treat cautiously," the company said.

It also sees the emergence of a new vehicle for attacks in the form of HTML 5, an update to the Web markup language that will support delivery of online video and allow Web applications to run offline. "HTML 5 will blur the line between desktop and online applications. This, along with the release of Google Chrome OS, will create another opportunity for malware writers to prey on users," McAfee said.

McAfee did mention few positive things in the report as well. The security firm sees law enforcement having more successes next year in its pursuit of cybercriminals, thanks to closer cooperation and improved skills at international crime-fighting agencies.