2006 Operating System Vulnerability Summary

Computer security is a precarious business both from a product development and administrative standpoint. Operating system vendors are forced to constantly patch their software to keep consumers protected from the latest digital threats. But which operating systems are the most secure? A recent report by Symantec hints that Windows currently presents fewer security holes than its commercial competitors.

To that, a typical consultant would respond "well, that depends," as security auditors generally take such statements with a grain of salt. It depends on the configurations of the hosts, the breadth of the included binaries and the scope of what "commercial competitors" entails. Differing opinions on this interpretation lead to different conclusions.

SecurityFocus, for instance, shows that various overall vulnerabilities surged in 2006 while ISS (Internet Security Systems) reports that operating system specific exploits declined.