A computer security cooperative says that successful hackers exploit a small number of flaws in security systems. A report released Thursday by the SANS Institute lists ones it believes are most common. People who want to enter computers by the back door, possibly to damage systems or steal information, have software tools readily available online, programs that are becoming easier to use. Pentagon computers invaded The Solar Sunrise incident began in February 1998, when the Pentagon detected several root-level intrusions into U.S. Air Force and Navy computer networks. These intrusions, which appeared to be organized, raised fears that hackers were working for governments trying to disrupt the military's Internet-based communications and gain unclassified material on U.S. plans and capabilities in the Persian Gulf.
Investigators say attackers use the path of least resistance to break in.
They count on organizations not fixing the problems, and they often attack indiscriminately, by scanning the Internet for vulnerable systems. Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, said 30 percent to 80 percent of all computer security attacks were tied to the various software and other flaws cited in the study. The exploits will always be there and be growing. RPC allows programs on one computer to execute programs on a second computer. It is widely used to access network services such as shared files.