14 DAY TRIAL // Many believe Windows is the most vulnerable operating system, which makes users running it sitting ducks in front of attackers trying to hack into their computers.
But according to an analysis published by TheBestVPN based on data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s National Vulnerability Database, Debian Linux was the operating system with the biggest number of vulnerabilities in the last 20 years.
Between 1999 and 2019, researchers discovered a total of 3,067 security flaws in Debian Linux, while Windows Server 2008, which is the Windows version with the biggest number of vulnerabilities, is far behind with just 1,421 security bugs.
Android and the Linux kernel are second and third in this list with 2,563 and 2,357 flaws, respectively, while macOS is fourth with 2,212.
Android tops 2019 charts
As for 2019 alone, Android is the number one in the charts with 414 vulnerabilities, followed by Debian Linux, Windows Server 2106, and Windows 10, with 360, 357, and 357 security issues.
“Microsoft is one of the world’s most successful technology companies, but its products remain susceptible to attacks; there were 668 reported vulnerabilities in 2019. Since 2009, Microsoft has had 6,814 technical vulnerabilities, making it the most vulnerable vendor in those 20 years. Oracle (6,115), IBM (4,679), Google (4,572), and Apple (4,512) also made the top five,” the report reveals.
“However, Linux experienced the most reported vulnerabilities per product at 139.4, which is likely because the software company is relatively young and has fewer products. However, Linux is projected to grow and may soon join the likes of Cisco, which has reported the second-fewest vulnerabilities (1.1) per product since 1999.”
In 2019, code execution vulnerabilities accounted for over 25 percent of the flaws discovered in software products worldwide, followed by cross-site scripting and buffer overflow with 17.7% and 13.9% of the reports, respectively.
