"In 2005 high-impact vulnerabilities accounted for about 28 per cent of total vulnerabilities, while they only accounted for 18 per cent in 2006," Ollmann said.

"The security industry has made great progress over the last year, but despite promising statistics such as this one, we predict that 2007 will require higher levels of vigilance and innovation to deal with emerging threats and new vectors of attack."

According to X Force there were 20 new vulnerabilities discovered daily in 2006, 88 per cent of which could be exploited remotely, with more than half allowing attackers complete access after the vulnerability was exploited.