Attackers pass on operating systems
The disappearance of easy-to-find flaws in the major operating systems has pushed vulnerability researchers to branch out from finding security issues in core system software and instead concentrate on the device drivers and client-side agents present on all PCs, security experts said on Wednesday at the Black Hat Briefings. The trend is not just evident at the Black Hat Briefings. Last year, Maynor investigated a variety of device drivers in Windows XP and Linux, finding numerous flaws. Other researchers have focused on Bluetooth drivers, in one case finding lax passwords allowed hackers to eavesdrop on the audio signals from passing cars. Common applications and software agents are also garnering more attention. Flaw finders and attackers bent on industrial espionage have started focusing on discovering vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office. For the past 18 months, researchers have also focused on finding security issues in the antivirus clients that ironically are supposed to protect PCs from attacks. And, researcher HD Moore used data-fuzzing tools to find numerous flaws in the most common browsers used by web surfers.