Vista as insecure as Windows 2000

**Glaswegian** · 05-09-2008, 01:57 PM

Good news for users of Windows Vista. According to figures compiled by PC Tools, the OS has experienced only slightly more vulnerabilities than Windows 2000, which appeared eight years ago when malware was far less common.

Or is that the bad news? Despite having a reputation as the least vulnerable of Microsoft’s operating systems, Vista still managed to record 639 unique vulnerabilities over roughly the last half year, which puts it in a worse position than the ageing Windows 2000, which experienced 586 over the same period.

Windows XP, which still accounts for the overwhelming volume of the Windows user base, had 1,021, with Windows 2003 Server reaching 478.

The Australian security company collected statistics on the number of infections by analysing figures from anonymous users of its ThreatFire community, with vulnerabilities double-confirmed by third-party anti-virus engines. The numbers are per 1,000 machines on each platform.

http://www.techworld.com/security/ne...&NewsID=101456

05-09-2008, 01:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 20,294 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 My System Blog Entries: 9	Vista as insecure as Windows 2000 Good news for users of Windows Vista. According to figures compiled by PC Tools, the OS has experienced only slightly more vulnerabilities than Windows 2000, which appeared eight years ago when malware was far less common. Or is that the bad news? Despite having a reputation as the least vulnerable of Microsoft’s operating systems, Vista still managed to record 639 unique vulnerabilities over roughly the last half year, which puts it in a worse position than the ageing Windows 2000, which experienced 586 over the same period. Windows XP, which still accounts for the overwhelming volume of the Windows user base, had 1,021, with Windows 2003 Server reaching 478. The Australian security company collected statistics on the number of infections by analysing figures from anonymous users of its ThreatFire community, with vulnerabilities double-confirmed by third-party anti-virus engines. The numbers are per 1,000 machines on each platform. http://www.techworld.com/security/ne...&NewsID=101456 __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. Ad-Aware::SpywareBlaster::SpyBot::SpywareGuard::SnoopFree::AVG Free::HOSTS File::HijackThis::Donate::5 Steps For Infected PCs