An eEye spokesperson said the new class of malware presents a very potent problem for the enterprise.

“Given the rapid discovery of critical security vulnerabilities within desktop applications other than Microsoft,  the release of malware of this magnitude targeting non-Microsoft software was only a matter of time,” said Marc Maiffret, eEye’s founder and CTO.

“IT urgently needs to understand that the new vector for attack will not come from Microsoft, but from the myriad applications that are scattered throughout its network. From anti-virus to iTunes, these non-Microsoft desktop applications, many of which IT is not even aware of, will become the enterprise’s biggest point of vulnerability very, very quickly. We strongly recommend IT take two steps immediately. First, enterprises need to implement a vulnerability management program that includes more than just Microsoft applications. Second, enterprise IT should implement a comprehensive, integrated endpoint security product that delivers proactive protection from unknown and known threats.” {moscomment}