Computer Vulnerability-to-Worm Cycle Compressing Dramatically; New Research from Foundstone Shows Vulnerability Exploitation Down to 10 Days.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MISSION VIEJO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2004

Foundstone Inc., experts in strategic security, today published an analysis of computer worm history revealing a potentially dangerous trend. The vulnerability-to-worm cycle has compressed from 288 days in 1999 to just 10 days in 2004, putting organizations and consumers at higher risk for attack.

Foundstone's analysis centers on high profile worms released between 1999 and 2004, including: Melissa, Sadmind, Sonic, Bugbear, Code Red, Nimda, Spida, MS SQL Slammer, Slapper, Blaster, Witty and Sasser. Worms that took advantage of user interaction (e.g. executing attachments) and remotely controlled "bots" were reviewed, but not included in the trend report in order to focus on completely automated threats.

"This trend is alarming as it demonstrates what we have sensed for years, that the cycle from vulnerability to worm is shortening dramatically -- putting increasing pressure on IT departments to remediate vulnerabilities faster than ever," said Stuart McClure, president and chief technology officer for Foundstone and author of the worm research. "The window within which the good guys have to work is closing fast."

"IT security is a chess game in which cyberattackers have the white pieces and thus move first," commented John Pescatore, analyst for Gartner. "Organizations can control the middle of the chessboard by implementing vulnerability management and intrusion prevention approaches to prevent and respond quickly to attacks."

"In today's world, it's nearly impossible to protect your enterprise's digital assets without a vulnerability management system," said Dave Cole, vice president of product management for Foundstone. "Foundstone Enterprise customers benefit from early warning of breaking threats, enabling a timely, effective response for even today's rapid turn-around worms. In addition, if the security of a customer is ever compromised for any reason, Foundstone Enterprise gives them the ability to quickly assess which machines on the network have been affected."

Foundstone's Enterprise Risk Solutions(TM) software helps organizations comprehensively discover, inventory, prioritize, and remediate all assets on a global network. The suite provides exceptionally accurate, high-speed vulnerability assessment of all network assets, intuitive reports and metrics, and a tightly integrated threat correlation module which correlates critical threats with prioritized assets so security and network operations can focus on the assets that matter the most.

About Foundstone

Foundstone(R) Inc., experts in strategic security, offers a unique combination of software, services, and education to help organizations continuously and measurably protect the most important assets from the most critical threats. Through a strategic approach to security, Foundstone identifies and implements the right balance of technology, people, and process to manage digital risk and leverage security investments more effectively. The company has one of the most dominant security talent pools ever assembled, and has authored 20 books, including the best-seller "Hacking Exposed." Foundstone customers include six of the top 11 Fortune companies and many U.S. government agencies. The company has headquarters in Orange County, Calif., and has offices in San Antonio, New York, Washington, and Singapore. For more information about Foundstone, visit www.foundstone.com, or call 877-91-FOUND within the United States, and 949-297-5600 outside the United States.

Note to Editors: Foundstone is a trademark of Foundstone Inc. All other companies, brand names or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.