Security Holes

[wrldwzrd89]

Windows Vista
3 vulnerabilities, 2 unpatched.
Most serious (unpatched): Less critical
Oldest (unpatched): 2006-12-22

Windows XP
178 vulnerabilities, 33 unpatched
Most serious (unpatched): Highly critical
Oldest (unpatched): 2002-09-18

Mac OS X
100 vulnerabilities, 7 unpatched
Most serious (unpatched): Moderately critical
Oldest (unpatched): 2006-11-22

All data from Secunia. Make of this what you will.

My opinions:
For being such a young OS, Windows Vista is faring surprisingly well in terms of security.
Windows XP, as usual, suffers from numerous security holes, many of which Microsoft never bothered to patch.
Mac OS X is clearly better than Windows XP when it comes to security, but can't beat Windows Vista. Apple has done a good job of patching the worst security holes, but Apple definitely has room for improvement on this matter.

 

[crees!]

Moving right along 🙄

 

[Queso]

I'd like to see these vulnerability numbers broken down further. There's a huge difference between a local privilege escalation vuln. and a buffer overflow that allows remote code execution. How many of each have OSX or XP suffered from?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I'd like to see these vulnerability numbers broken down further. There's a huge difference between a local privilege escalation vuln. and a buffer overflow that allows remote code execution. How many of each have OSX or XP suffered from?

Mac OS X
Of the 7 unpatched security holes, 6 concern local privelege escalation and/or DoS (Denial of Service). The other 1 could be used to gain unauthorized access to a Mac OS X system.

Here's a graph: Mac OS X Vulnerability type comparison (all vulnerabilities)

Windows XP
Windows XP Home Edition Vulnerability type comparison (all vulnerabilities)
Windows XP Professional Edition Vulnerability type comparison (all vulnerabilities)

Windows Vista
Windows Vista Vulnerability type comparison (all vulnerabilities)

 

[miniConvert]

All complex software is going to have vulnerabilities. The biggest advantage of OS X is that nobody (that we know about...) seems to be actively exploiting them like in the Windows world. Of course, the inherent advantages of Unix-style security also help.

As for Vista: It's time will come. It's brand spanking new, it'll take a while for people to pick holes in it, and longer still for us to find out about them. Some of the worst vulnerabilities in software are often exploited for years before they come to anyones attention - that's just the way it is.