Gray Hat Hacking The Ethical Hackers Handbook, 3rd Edition, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 16Understanding and Detecting Content-Type Attacks

Most enterprise network perimeters are protected by firewalls that block unsolicited network-based attacks. Most enterprise workstations have antivirus protection for widespread and well-known exploits. And most enterprise mail servers are protected by filtering software that strips malicious executables. In the face of these protections, malicious attackers have increasingly turned to exploiting vulnerabilities in client-side software such as Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office. If an attacker attaches a malicious PDF to an e-mail message, the network perimeter firewall will not block it, the workstation antivirus product likely will not detect it (see the “Obfuscation” section later ...