infoTECH Feature

November 19, 2013

Microsoft Unveils Report Comparing Security Flaws in its Operating Systems

Microsoft (News - Alert) recently rolled out the fifteenth volume of its Security Intelligence Report. This report takes a look at more than 1 billion different systems in order to get information on known exploits, vulnerabilities and malware. The report’s main goal is to help customers understand how to manage their risk when they are surfing the web or just using their mobile devices on a daily basis.

As the Internet has grown in popularity and the means of accessibility has increased, malware has become a huge problem. When mobile devices were relatively new, it was almost unheard of to see malware targeted to a smartphone. These days, coming up with software that can crack an iPhone (News - Alert) is big business.

Along those lines, Apple used to be a company that was almost completely immune to viruses and malware, the company recently admitted that even its iron wall against attackers is starting to see some real dents and even some rather large holes. Microsoft is still the system that gets the most attention from hackers and creators of viruses and malware, most likely because it is still the operating system of choice for most enterprise level and larger companies around the world. The OS also still has a rather large presence when talking about the average consumer.

Microsoft’s recent report took a look specifically at the vulnerabilities of Windows 8, compared to older OS like Windows XP. The report found that there were basically three major viruses that were a real threat to the operating system. The report also found that, through the first half of 2013 almost 17 percent of computers running up to date security solutions encountered malware. While there doesn’t seem to be a correlation between the operating system and how often a computer runs across malware, Windows XP appears to be more susceptible to infection when compared to Windows 8. In total, XP is six times more likely to actually get infected.

"The data help illustrate the positive impact that security innovations in newer operating systems are having. Modern operating systems such as Windows 8 include advanced security technologies that are specifically designed to make it harder, more complex, more expensive and, therefore, less appealing for cyber criminals to exploit vulnerabilities," Tim Rains, director of Microsoft Trustworthy Computing said in a recent statement.




Edited by Ryan Sartor
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