Today I bumped into an individual at Borders Books and who asked which was more secure Windows or Linux. Well what do you think? I think it really depends more on the individuals using it and those administering it. Threats ultimately come from people and so do the defenses. So any poorly managed operating system is more vulnerable than a well managed operating system - with a few caveats... As for Windows and Linux. Windows is more widely used - so it is targeted more often; Linux is not. If you are designing malicious code to affect the widest population of users you must make have it target operating systems and applications that are most widely deployed. It makes not sense to create a virus - or other malware - that targets an operating system that works on only one machine. That is, of course, unless it is a very targeted attack like you might see in the movies.
Even though Windows will be targeted more often - due to its wider deployment - it is also worked on by more people on a daily basis. That means that there will more likely be a patch forthcoming in a timely manner - and the attack will also likely be detected more quickly since more systems will be affected in any given period of time.
So which is more secure? I think it is the OS deployment that suffers for poor or inept management.
Rob
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