JVM vulnerability.

A vulnerability in an application that is present on most desktop computers poses a significant security threat because it will not be closed by the usual Microsoft update process, according to Webwasher.

However, proactive filtering technology, which is included in the newest versions of Webwasher Content Security Management (CSM), protects users from the vulnerability discovered in Sun Microsystem's Java Virtual Machine (VM).

Comment

Java VM is used extensively by many online services such as maps or chat portals. This vulnerability could have a major impact on most enterprises since even those with strict security policies do not usually forbid the download or use of Java.

The vulnerability is available as a "proof of concept" code at this point and there had been no outbreak of a virus or worm as yet, but once a vulnerability of this magnitude is exposed, it is usually not long before the vulnerability is exploited.

Most PCs are vulnerable, since Java VM is downloaded when users try to access Web sites that check for a Java VM and then ask the user to automatically install it. Since the Sun Java VM is not part of Windows, Microsoft patches won't help.

Webwasher's proactive filtering offers protection against the Java VM vulnerability as well as against a class of "thinkable' virus attacks which use a similar approach--Proactive detection can replace hundreds or thousands of virus patterns that will need to be developed. It adds new schemes of attack to its proactive technology as vulnerabilities become known, instead of having to wait for a virus to hit and its pattern to be identified.

www.cyberguard.com