14 DAY TRIAL // Due to its ubiquity, the Windows operating system is the most attacked operating system worldwide. This status quo has generated an inherent bad reputation as far as security is concerned, as Windows is under a constant barrage of attacks and far from being bulletproof. Since its introduction in November 2006 for businesses and in January 2007 for the general consumers, Vista proved to be an unattractive target for malicious code due to the operating system's obscure market share. But with the introduction of the first service pack for Vista, a move bound to accelerate adoption, and with the subsequent increase in market footprint, the platform will come under heavy fire.
"In 2007, the market share of Windows Vista sat below 10 percent. This threshold will be crossed in 2008. The release of Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista is also likely to accelerate its adoption rate. Professional attackers and malware authors may begin to see an impact on their businesses and expend some effort in exploring ways to circumvent the new operating system. (This does not mean older threats will disappear, however. It was several years after the Java vulnerability named in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-011 was patched before exploits targeting that vulnerability fell off the list of McAfee Avert Labs' top 10 threats to consumers.)," McAfee estimated.
Security company McAfee welcomed Vista to the Windows onslaught starting with 2008, estimating that the 10% market share milestone will represent a turning point for the threat environment to start focusing on Microsoft's latest operating system. The sole explanation of why malware authors have been ignoring Windows Vista is the low market share of the operating system, a position synonymous with that of Mac OS X and Linux, and one that guarantees an almost inexistent threat environment. This will change in the coming year, as the number of vulnerabilities in Vista alone will jump over 40.
"The old threats will persist, but a new crop is on its way. The National Vulnerability Database reports 19 Windows Vista vulnerabilities in the first nine months after the OS was released. This compares with 16 Windows XP vulnerabilities during a comparable period. The number of reported Windows XP vulnerabilities more than doubled in the following 12 months. If history repeats itself, we can expect far more than 20 Windows Vista vulnerabilities to be reported in 2008", McAfee predicted.
