Surprise, Windows Listed as Most Secure OS

david_g17 writes "According to a Symantec study reported by Information Week, Microsoft has the most secure operating system amongst its commercial competitors. The report only covered the last 6 months of vulnerabilities and patch releases, but the results place Microsoft operating systems above Mac OS X and Red Hat. According to the article, 'The report found that Microsoft Windows had the fewest number of patches and the shortest average patch development time of the five operating systems it monitored in the last six months of 2006.' The article continues to mention the metrics used in the study (quantity and severity of vulnerabilities as well as the amount of time one must wait for the patch to be released)."

Comments

Simply

[COMON$]

Let me simplify:

This discussion will go as follows.

Linux geeks will pound the boards about foul play and all the vulerabilities they would exploit if they werent to busy checking dependencies.

Mac fanboys will make fun of both citing how Symantec didnt like them in the first place, because Mac people dont buy Symantec products.

Windows geeks will state how this has always been the case, but because they are the more popular OS they are a bigger target.

And finally the old unix guys will flame about how none of these vulnerabilites would have happened if we would have stayed away from GUIs.

So now that we have got that out of the way we can bypass all the leg humping and mindless dribble and get down to the real discussion...can Microsoft keep it up? Personally as a network admin I have not been too nervous the last 6 months. Since the year of the blaster MS has done a pretty good job of making up for exploits and covering their asses. All is quiet on the homefront.

Re:Simply

[Stanistani]

>we can bypass all the leg humping and mindless dribble and get down to the real discussion...can Microsoft keep it up?

So much sexual innuendo - so little time.

Re:Simply

[UbuntuDupe]

Windows is the safest OS, it's just that it has to tolerate being on unsecure networks, usage by mouth-breathers, and its overwhelming attractiveness as a target for criminals.

*please mod insightful, please mod insightful*

Re:Simply

[pogson]

I have found Windows to be exceptionally secure after I install GNU/Linux right over top of it. I have never had a failure after this procedure. I started doing it when I saw machines running Windows fail for no apparent reason, sometimes just idling and "PFFT!", dead as a BSOD. People told me it was hardware problems, but, running on the same hardware, the new installation would run for months with no downtime.

Re:Simply

[Rei]

You BETTER keep them AWAY from your CAPS LOCK as well, ZIPPY!

(I have no problem with the post -- only with Slashdot's title for it. I would recommend something more like "Windows Is Most Secure OS, Say Flying Pigs")

Re:Simply

[eikonos]

That will teach internetnews.com to host their site on a Windows box. :P

Re:Simply

[norminator]

I must be bored... a handy reference card:

"Mindless dribble" = "Mindless drivel", people. please. I see this so often and it grieveth me so.
-and, from previous Slashdot discussions...
"a mute point" = "a moot point"

and my absolute favorite...
"for all intensive purposes" (aaargh!) = "for all intents and purposes"

ok? fixed? I can go back to work now?

I could care less about those grammar errors...

Re:Simply

[earthbound kid]

Irregardless, the previous poster should of corrected it.

Ive seen the evidence

[Anonymous Coward]

its a blue screen that tells you
IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

never been infected while ive seen that on my screen
even in Vista !

Re:In other unrelated news today

[Walt Dismal]

Microsoft has the most secure operating system amongst its commercial competitors.

Surely you've jumped the gun. This is March 22. April 1st isn't for a few days.

Of course it's more secure..

[GonzoTech]

Steve Ballmer's chair throwing corps makes sure they get good reviews.. or else.

GUIs? Hah! Like command lines are any better

[spun]

In MY day, we toggled programs into the front panel with SWITCHES, and we LIKED IT! Now get off my lawn, you damn kids.

Re:GUIs? Hah! Like command lines are any better

[Anonymous Coward]

You had tape?

I would have killed for tape.

In my day we stored data on twigs and tree bark and we liked it.

And don't get me started on "binary". It was either zero or it wasn't. We didn't need no stinking ones.

Re:GUIs? Hah! Like command lines are any better

[nsayer]

Luxury.

We had to draw our data in the sand. We hadn't heard about zeros, so we had to write them as I-I.

Re:GUIs? Hah! Like command lines are any better

[Scoldog]

In my day, I had to turn the light on for 1 and turn it off for 0.
 
Problem is, the PHB saw me doing this and told me to leave the light on. I said this would be a bad idea as it would signal the lusers that the system was in production and that they could potentially stuff the system up, especially all the batch files running that where processing data relating to the "Earth" project. The PHB ignored me and created two new limited access user accounts (Hereby called Luser1 AKA Adam and Luser2 AKA Eve).
 
Anyhoo, to cut a long story short, Luser2 managed to get the root password (due to a worm that the PHB infected the server with), shared it with Luser1 and managed to give themselves greater access to the info on the server. The PHB found out about this and got pretty mad with them. He deleted their user accounts, kicked them off the server and installed a firewall so that they could never again access the almighty server.
 
So anyway, here I am, the 21C of the "Universe" server, still watching the spawn processes of those two lusers still multiplying and changing and dealing with new problems like cooling fans starting to die.
 
I don't think I'll ever get this server right again.

Translation Follows:

[Chris Mattern]

"We don't sell any anti-virus or firewall software when people buy Linux."

Chris Mattern

THIS JUST IN!

[pak9rabid]

Symantec's net income mysteriously increased by $10 million....In other news, Microsoft's net income shows a decrease of $10 million. Upon investigation of Microsoft's income statement, "other expenses" showed an increase of $10 million...

Re:small addition

[Gilmoure]

Death to all fanatics!

Even more spectacular is the conclusion

[mangu]

12 severe for windows and 2 severe for Linux is farking spectacular

The strange thing here is that they say Windows has six times as many severe vulnerabilities and conclude "... therefore Windows is *more* secure than Linux ...". WTF? Have they changed the definition of "more"? Where can I get a patch for my English dictionary?

How perfectly Orwellian

[BlackSabbath]

War is Peace
Ignorance is Strength
Windows is Secure

and

Windows is the most secure operating system. Windows has ALWAYS been the most secure operating system.