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Top 12 Operating Systems Vulnerability Survey

Posted by Zonk on from the just-in-case-you-were-feeling-secure dept.

markmcb writes "Have you ever wondered how vulnerable your computer is from the first bit you write to the hard drive all the way until you have a fully patched system? If so, Matthew Vea has posted a concise summary of security strengths and shortcomings for twelve of the major operating systems of 2006/2007. In his summary, Matt tests each OS with widely available tools like nmap and Nessus, and notes responses at install, pre-patch, and post-patch times for each system. After the tedious job is done, he produces results that will make both the Apple and Windows communities cringe with regards to security. From the article: 'As far as straight-out-of-box conditions go, both Microsoft's Windows and Apple's OS X are ripe with remotely accessible vulnerabilities ... The UNIX and Linux variants present a much more robust exterior to the outside. Even when the pre-configured server binaries are enabled, each [Linux] system generally maintained its integrity against remote attacks.'"

6 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. Re:SAY IT AINT SO JOE by iangoldby · · Score: 4, Funny

    The difference is, the exploits for the mac just work, but you have to trick a stupid windows user into running them to hack XP.
    That's not remotely funny -- even with the firewall disabled.
  2. Re:Obligatory missing option post. by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ha ha. My favorite oxymoron: "Open VMS". The question isn't really "Can you break in?" but "Why would you want to?".

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    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  3. Re:SAY IT AINT SO JOE by Jaqenn · · Score: 2, Funny

    I thought it was funny, but maybe because I had a co-worker who always went on about how everything on the mac 'just works'.

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    You are awash in a sea of fiercely stated opinions. Obvious exits are: 'File->Quit', 'Reply', and 'Page Down'.
  4. Re:Macs Still Safe in Default State by crayiii · · Score: 2, Funny

    come on, you're saying that in 1 friggen hour, while I'm downloading SP2 on a new XP box that I'm going to be "infected?" Sounds a little far fetched to me...

  5. Re:SAY IT AINT SO JOE by kgbspy · · Score: 3, Funny

    PC user: Macs suck. You can't play games on them, you can't get any good software for them; really, nobody supports Macs. Mac user: Yeah, but at least we don't get viruses. PC user: See? Not even virus writers support Macs!

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  6. Oracle on classic Mac OS? I don't think so. by ckd · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nessus "found" that the Mac OS 9.2.2 box had a vulnerability that would allow an attacker to crash, or run code in, the Oracle 9i application server?

    Since Oracle 9i doesn't even run on Mac OS 9.2.2, I don't think this is likely to be a big concern.