Windows Vista Deemed 'Most Secure'
A new report from Microsoft bases the claim on the 36 vulnerabilities fixed in Windows Vista during its first year, compared to the 65 found in Windows XP, but analysts remain skeptical.
Windows Vista gets high marks for security, from Microsoft at least.
Eric Schultze, chief technology officer of St. Paul, Minn.-based Shavlik Technologies, considers such metrics to be apples-to-oranges comparisons. "When you start counting vulnerabilities, it's a matter of defining vulnerabilities," he said. "For example, if a bulletin is released for Internet Explorer, that's one patch for IE. Microsoft may have broken it out to say there are five distinct issues fixed in this patch. Is that five vulnerabilities or is that one vulnerability because it's one patch?"
Dave Marcus, security research and communications manager of McAfee Avert Labs, gives Wilson credit for some good points but believes it's still too early to declare victory for Vista. "Wilson put forth a very good argument," he said. "His stats are valid, but I think he fails to take into account that most businesses have not deployed Vista, nor have most consumers."
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