MS blames non-Redmond apps for security woes

Microsoft has blamed common third-party desktop applications, rather than Windows, for the majority of security threats in a new report. The finding might appear surprising at first but is backed by independent security notification firm Secunia.

The latest edition of Microsoft's Security Intelligence Report suggests that "nearly 90 percent of vulnerabilities disclosed in the second half of 2008 affected applications". It reckons hackers have shifted their attention to applications in response to improved security of operating systems, including Windows. The overall number of security vulnerabilities went down, but the number of high-risk flaws rose by 4 per cent, according to Redmond's security researchers.