Top 25 Most Dangerous Programming Errors List Released

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

BEDFORD, Mass., February 26, 2010 — The MITRE Corporation, the SANS Institute, and other top security experts from across the United States and Europe have released a list of the 25 most significant programming errors that can lead to serious software vulnerabilities.

These errors, which can lead to security holes and enable online espionage and cyber crime, are common mistakes made in the process of developing software—not the vulnerabilities that result from programming errors. Such errors occur frequently and are easy to exploit.

The main goal for the Top 25 list is to stop vulnerabilities at the source by educating programmers on how to eliminate all-too-common mistakes before software is shipped. Software consumers can use the same list seek out more secure software. Finally, software managers and CIOs can use the Top 25 list to measure progress in their efforts to secure their software.

The list leverages experiences in the development of the SANS Top 20 attack vectors (http://www.sans.org/top20/) and MITRE's Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) (http://cwe.mitre.org/). MITRE maintains the CWE website, with the support of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division, presenting detailed descriptions of the top 25 programming errors along with guidance for mitigating and avoiding them. The CWE site also contains data on more than 700 additional programming errors, design errors, and architecture errors that can lead to exploitable vulnerabilities.

The list and other supporting information can be accessed at http://cwe.mitre.org/top25/.

About The MITRE Corporation

The MITRE Corporation (www.mitre.org) is a not-for-profit organization that provides systems engineering, research and development, and information technology support to the government. It operates federally funded research and development centers for the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Homeland Security, with principal locations in Bedford, Mass., and McLean, Va.

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