Security warning for corporate websites

Corporate websites have become something of an "Achilles' heel" when it comes to IT security.

This is according to the latest X-Force Trend and Risk report from IBM, which revealed that hackers are concentrating on attacking web apps to infect users' computers.

Some companies, meanwhile, are deploying off-the-shelf apps that could be vulnerability-ridden, while others are opting for custom software that may be difficult to patch, IBM said.

As a result of this, automated SQL injection vulnerabilities are still prevalent, with 30 times more attacks targeting these weaknesses recorded at the end of 2008 compared with the summer.

"It is staggering that we still see SQL injection attacks in widespread use without adequate patching almost ten years after they were first disclosed," remarked Kris Lamb, senior operations manager for X-Force Research and Development at IBM Internet Security Systems.

The report also suggested that hackers are increasingly focusing on exploits that link to infected movies - such as those made with Flash - and documents including PDFs.

Last month, a list of the top 25 most dangerous web coding errors was launched by the SANS Institute and MITRE.

This news story was brought to you by Bluhalo, a leading UK digital agency.