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Kaspersky Lab Automatic Exploit Prevention technology blocks 4.2 million Java exploit attacks in a year

Kaspersky Lab today announces that its unique Automatic Exploit Prevention technology detected and blocked 4.2 million attacks via Java exploits between September 2012 and August 2013, protecting 2.25 million users of Kaspersky Lab solutions. This data comes from the ‘Java under attack – the evolution of exploits in 2012-2013’ research conducted by the company.

Cybercriminals use exploits (a special type of malicious program which utilises vulnerabilities in legitimate software) to secretly download malware which steals users’ personal data and money. Some exploits help bypass antivirus protection, which makes this type of malware even more popular for cyber-attacks.

Automatic Exploit Prevention is a technology which Kaspersky Lab developed in-house to detect and block exploits as soon as they attempt to use software vulnerabilities. The technology analyses the behaviour of legitimate software components - if there is any unusual activity which might indicate an exploit is at work, the protection system is activated and the threat is blocked.

“The main challenge faced by today’s antivirus industry is the need to combat new and unknown threats including attacks via exploits. Automatic Exploit Prevention is our response to this challenge. The efficiency of the technology proves that we have chosen the right approach to protect against sophisticated cyber-attacks,” said Nikolay Grebennikov, Kaspersky Lab’s chief technology officer. Hide Keyboard

Automatic Exploit Prevention technology is integrated into Kaspersky Lab’s Kaspersky Anti-Virus and Kaspersky Internet Security protection solutions for home users as well as in Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business, the company’s security solution for corporate IT infrastructure.

Other findings of the report

According to the same study, Kaspersky Lab products blocked an overall total of 14.1 million attacks involving Java exploits between September 2012 and August 2013, a third more than in the same period in 2011-2012.

The research also showed that over 50 per cent of attacks were performed with the help of only six Java-exploit families and the majority of victims (about 80 per cent) live in the USA, Russia, Germany and seven other countries.

The research was based on data received from users of Kaspersky Lab products who had agreed to send the information to the Kaspersky Security Network cloud service.

About Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.co.uk

* The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2011. The rating was published in the IDC report “Worldwide Endpoint Security 2012–2016 Forecast and 2011 Vendor Shares (IDC #235930, July 2012). The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2011.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alice Collins .