Security Intelligence Report (SIR) v15 Now Available

Posted by TwC Staff

Microsoft recently released volume 15 of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) (download PDF), with insights on security vulnerabilities, exploit activity, malware and potentially unwanted software, spam, phishing, malicious websites, and security trends worldwide.

Threat awareness can help you protect your organization, software, and people, and the SIR is a great source of data to build that awareness.

The latest report, SIRv15 includes new information about the security benefits of running a modern operating system. Data shows that while all currently supported versions of Windows (Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8) are exposed to similar amounts of malware, the infection rate on Windows XP was six times higher than that of Windows 8.

And computers running Windows XP will face even greater security risks once support ends for the operating system in April 2014. Current Windows XP users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to a modern operating system before that deadline.  Trustworthy Computing Director Tim Rains discusses this subject further in a related blog post.

The SIR is the most comprehensive report on cybersecurity threat trends in the industry, and offers prescriptive guidance to help customers manage risk and protect their assets.  It also includes Regional Threat Assessments for more than 100 countries and regions around the world.

Check out the full report at http://www.microsoft.com/sir and, as always, we hope you’ll share your thoughts in our comments section below.