Adobe to be Prime Target for Malware in 2010

2009 is drawing to a close, and 2010 is almost upon us. The Chinese calendar says 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, but a report released from McAfee claims it could be the year of Adobe malware.

Traditionally, the most common target for malware is Microsoft. Microsoft holds a dominant stake of the operating system, office productivity, and Web browser markets, so it's only logical that malware developers would want to fish in the pool with the most targets.

However, Mac OS X is creeping up in operating system market share and Firefox and Chrome are nibbling away at the Web browser market share, making them more attractive targets for attack as well. Adobe, with Flash and Acrobat Reader, is virtually ubiquitous across all operating system platforms and Web browsers, which makes it a one-stop-shopping target.

The McAfee report says "Cybercriminals have long picked on Microsoft products due to their popularity. In 2010, we anticipate Adobe software, especially Acrobat Reader and Flash, will take the top spot."

I spoke with McAfee chief technology officer George Kurtz, who explained that "Adobe has added so much functionality to their software they are suffering the same fate as Microsoft with Internet Explorer." pcworld