OS X emerges the most vulnerable software of 2015 with iOS coming second most vulnerable, Apple the company with most vulnerabilitiesOS X the most vulnerable software
Surprisingly according to the study by CVE Details, Flash is ranked third well behind OS X, the Apple’s proprietary operating system. Even more surprising is that Apple’s mobile operating system iteration, iOS ranks second in the most vulnerable software list. The results are based on various reports by independent security researchers, cyber-security firms, and even the makers of various software themselves have reported security vulnerabilities who asked for a CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) identifier in 2015. The CVE is a centralised identifier for vulnerabilities and security researchers/security firms/app developers use CVE to track security flaws across products and time. The top companies with their vulnerabilities are listed below : Apple with its 654 bugs joined the elite most vulnerable companies list which includes IBM in 2014 with 455 bugs, Oracle in 2013 with 496 bugs, Oracle again in 2012 with 380 bugs, and Google in 2011 with 295 bugs. Microsoft has been the most consistent of them by winning the rotten tomatoes between 1999 and 2010.
OS X the most vulnerable software
The CVE Details throws up some fascinating facts as well. The software which was eulogised as the most secure piece of coding on planet Earth has been found to be most vulnerable this year. Apple’s OS X operating system which powers Macs and Macbooks reported 384 security bugs. Even more surprising is that its mobile phone cousin, iOS which powers the iPhones of the world, came in second with 375 bugs. As mentioned above, the perennial favourite of security researchers and security firms, Adobe’s Flash Player came in a distant third. Flash was expected to come first by most users especially after the slew of security bugs that spilled out in the open after the Hacking Team data breach. In 2015 Flash ‘only’ had 316 security bugs. Even the other perennial hot favorite, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer came in a distant fifth. The list of most vulnerable software is given below : With most companies phasing out the use of Flash in 2016, it might not even figure in the CVE list next year. Same is the case with Internet Explorer and Windows Server 2013/Windows 8.1. Next year will see a rise of new vulnerability giant, the newly released Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system.
