PDF Exploits Explode, Continue Climb in 2010 - PCWorld

PDF Exploits Explode, Continue Climb in 2010 - PCWorld

Exploits of Adobe's PDF format jumped dramatically last year, and continue to climb during 2010, a McAfee security researcher said Wednesday.

Microsoft , meanwhile, recently said that more than 46% of the browser -based exploits during the second half of 2009 were aimed at vulnerabilities in Adobe's free Reader PDF viewer.

According to Toralv Dirro, a security strategist with McAfee Labs, the percentage of exploitative malware targeting PDF vulnerabilities has skyrocketed. In 2007 and 2008, only 2% of all malware that included a vulnerability exploit leveraged an Adobe Reader or Acrobat bug. The number jumped to 17% in 2009, and to 28% during the first quarter of 2010.