Apple is most vulnerable to security hacks: IBM report

By CarlBagh: Subscribe to CarlBagh's RSS feed

August 28, 2010 11:23 AM EDT

Apple tops the list of IBM's X-Force security list of most vulnerable vendors followed by Microsoft and Adobe.

Apple continued to hold the top position for a second year in a row while Microsoft graduated to the second from last year's third position. However, Adobe jumped from the ninth position to third on account of recent PDF and Flash-based loopholes.

Linux topped the list of the most vulnerable OS. The current trend shows that working on Mac OS or Linux is as vulnerable as Windows.

The report which analyzes data for first half of the year says that reported vulnerabilities increased 36 percent compared to the same period in last year. IBM analyzed 4,396 vulnerabilities to reach the conclusion.

Must Read

Sponsorship Link

Like us on Facebook

Apple accounted for 4 percent of all vulnerability disclosures with Microsoft reporting 3.4 percent. But when it comes to the least patched vendors, the top three positions are held by Sun, Microsoft and Mozilla with Apple in the fourth place.

Current year has been full of flaws when it comes to security with high-profile leaks like iPad users' email ids harvested by hacker group Goatsie to loopholes in Apple's browser Safari and a spate of security patches released by Microsoft for its popular web browser Internet Explorer.

The report highlights that most of the malware and viruses are targeted at big names as it ensures more revenue based on the quality of data gleaned and also due to the volumes in traffic these vendors enjoy. It also gives credence to the fact that properitary is not always equal to security.

This article is copyrighted by International Business Times, the business news leader