Turnaround
Wednesday 7th February, 2007 14:44 Comments: 0
The table below shows the time frame between the vulnerability being reported and how long it took for malware authors to incorporate it into a worm candidate for Microsoft Windows. This should demonstrate why updates need to be applied quickly. The fact that there hasn't been a big "Nimda" style virus in recent years, despite the much quicker turnaround by malware authors, should also demonstrate that Windows is a lot more secure than it used to be (although introducing a firewall in Windows XP SP2 was a big help). I wonder if we'll see anything in August 2007.
Source: McAfee Avert Labs
Patch | Malware | Patch Availability | Worm Attack Date | Turnaround |
---|---|---|---|---|
MS01-020 | Nimda | Oct 17th, 2000 | Sep 18th, 2001 | 335 Days |
MS02-061 | Slammer | Jul 24th, 2002 | Jan 25th, 2003 | 185 Days |
MS03-026 | Blaster | Jul 16th, 2003 | Aug 11th, 2003 | 26 Days |
MS04-011 | Sasser | Apr 13th, 2004 | Apr 30th, 2004 | 17 Days |
MS05-039 | Zotob | Aug 09th, 2005 | Aug 14th, 2005 | 5 Days |
MS06-040 | Mocbot | Aug 08th, 2006 | Aug 12th 2006 | 4 Days |
Source: McAfee Avert Labs