For the first time ever, Microsoft is not a Kaspersky top-10 security vulnerability

Security researcher and software vendor Kaspersky Lab on Friday released its quarterly malware report for the third quarter of 2012, and for the first time in the history of the report, not a single Microsoft product had a vulnerability in the top ten vulnerabilities list.

Kaspersky says the automatic updates mechanism in recent versions of Windows has prevented exploits from getting out of hand by patching vulnerabilities quickly and quietly.

Top 10 Vulnerabilities for Q3 2012
Including Secunia ID and date of last change

1. Oracle Java Highly Critical Vulnerability (SA 49472) on August 20, 2012
2. Oracle Java Extremely Critical Vulnerability (SA 50133) on August 31, 2012
3. Adobe Flash Player Highly Critical Vulnerability (SA 50354) on Sept. 25, 2012
4. Adobe Flash Player Highly Critical Vulnerability (SA 49388) on June 18, 2012
5. Adobe Reader/Acrobat Extremely Critical Vulnerability (SA 47133) on Jan. 11 2012
6. Apple Quicktime Highly Critical Vulnerability (SA 47447) on Aug 23, 2012
7. Apple iTunes Highly Critical Vulnerability (SA 49489) on July 10, 2012
8. Winamp Highly Critical Vulnerability (SA 46624) on August 3, 2012
9. Adobe Shockwave Highly Critical Vulnerability (SA 50283) on August 14, 2012
10. Adobe Flash Player Extremely Critical Vulnerability (SA 41917) on November 9, 2012

Kaspersky says Java is the most exploitable family of software for a number of reasons: Firstly, Oracle says some variant of this Java virtual machine is installed on over 1.1 billion computers, making it a gigantic target. Secondly, updates for Java are on-demand rather than automatic, so vulnerabilities have a longer shelf life.

Now that Windows 8 and its different versions have been released, the question of how next-generation security threats will spread is one that needs an answer. The introduction of the Windows Store for centralized software distribution absolutely changes the way third-party software is distributed, so it could also change the malware landscape significantly.

Kaspersky's full report: IT Threat Evolution Q3 2012 can be viewed here.

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