In 2003, information on 2,636 security vulnerabilities was released to the public, according to Symantec's biannual Internet Security Threat Report. That's an increase of only 2 percent from the 2,587 vulnerabilities disclosed by companies and security researchers in 2002, said Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering for Symantec. From 2001 to 2002, there was an 81 percent increase, Huger said.

"This is the first year that we have seen the disclosure of vulnerabilities level off," he said.

The report affirms a trend found in data from the Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center: The 3,784 vulnerabilities reported to the organization last year decreased 8 percent from the 4,129 flaws found in 2002.

By Robert Lemos at ZDNet.

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