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Telecom.IT: Symantec has detected and prevented over 1.2 billion cyberattacks in 2015
Symantec has detected and prevented over 1.2 billion cyberattacks in 2015 with its Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), company officials announced on Wednesday in a release.
Last year, Symantec has blocked through the IPS nearly 300 millions of cyberattacks that use exploit kits, of which almost 20 millions of attempts generated by the Angler Exploit Kit only.
"Windows 7 was the main target of Angler, with 64pct of the total of the attacks blocked focusing on this OS last year, followed by Windows 8.1 (24pct) and Windows Vista (5pct). Most of the attacks using exploit kits took place in the USA (45pct), Russia (14pct) and Brazil (8pct). Apart from the exploit kits, Symantec has detected and blocked with help of the IPS over 240 million attempts of exploiting software systems' vulnerabilities in 2015. The main operation systems aimed at by attackers were Windows XP, the OS launched over 15 years ago, with 71pct attacks blocked by the Symantec security solutions, including the Intrusion Prevention System, for Windows XP systems, followed by Windows 7 (12pct) and Windows Server 2003 (9pct). Although Microsoft no longer supports the XP, many users continue to use it, giving attackers a chance to exploit the system's vulnerabilities," reads the release.
The intrusion prevention systems used by Symantec also blocked over 700 million attack attempts using malware in the past year. In such cases, too, the OS were the main target of the cyberattacks, with over 66pct of attempts against Windows 7.
Symantec Corporation specializes in cyber security; it has more than 20,000 employees in more than 50 countries, and 99pct of the 'Fortune 500' companies among its clients.