Switchfast Blog - The Future of IT
McAfee says Adobe Will be a Bigger Hacker Target than Microsoft in 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009 by Michael Holley
As the internet becomes even more interactive, Adobe's Flash and
Reader applets will become even more omnipresent, causing them to
surpass Microsoft Office applications as the most oft-targeted bits
of software by cybercriminals, according to McAfee.
This prediction is the result of the well-accepted theory that
being on top puts a target on your back for cybercriminals, not
because anyone wants to take you down, but because they want access
to your market share. Microsoft has dealt with this curse for over
a decade, and their ability to compete has undoubtedly been
hampered, both by a constant need to focus resources on security
rather than R&D, and a probably undeserved bad reputation for
being virus-prone.
Adobe finds itself in a much different realm than Microsoft,
however, facing no fierce competition (to the products in question)
since it acquired its main rival, Macromedia, in 2005. Flash has
become such a standard even among the tech giants like Microsoft
and Google, Adobe has been able to avoid new competition simply by
protecting what it already has. Going forward, Adobe will need to
look at improving security as a sunken cost, but one that is
required to deter the world's network of developers. The problems
for Adobe will come when someone else comes to market with a
significant innovation, if Adobe's need to constantly watch its
back for hackers inhibits its ability to keep up with the
trends.
As a user, especially on a business network housing sensitive
information, this underlines the importance to be increasingly
cautious when websites want to install drivers or applets to power
media content. You should only download such files from highly
trusted sources and only when absolutely necessary to use a web
page. A little caution goes a long way, but if you think your
system may have been compromised, contact your administrator as
soon as possible.
If you're interested, you can download the full McAfee report here.
Best,
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support
& Consulting
Rochester
IT Support & Consulting
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