Security no worse than in 2002

The number of public alerts about software security flaws leveled off over the last six months, but worms continue to threaten the internet, according to a report security company Symantec released Monday. In 2003, information on 2,636 security vulnerabilities was released to the public, according to Symantec's biannual Internet Security Threat Report. That's an increase of only two per cent from the 2,587 vulnerabilities disclosed by companies and security researchers in 2002, said Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering for Symantec. From 2001 to 2002, there was an 81 per cent increase, Huger said.

"This is the first year that we have seen the disclosure of vulnerabilities level off," he said.

The report affirms a trend found in data from the Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center: the 3,784 vulnerabilities reported to the organisation last year decreased eight per cent from the 4,129 flaws found in 2002.

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