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Most Windows users out there would be familiar with the need to install patches through Windows Update from time to time. Even though not all of them are made to fix the operating system as they could be drivers and Windows’s own anti-malicious software, the amount of patches that users need to apply from time to time might give the impression that Windows has plenty of vulnerabilities.

After all, Windows does have a higher risk of security attacks given the popularity of the operating throughout the world. However, a recent report has stated that Windows was somehow NOT the most vulnerable operating system in 2014. Surprisingly, that title goes to Apple’s Mac OS X and iOS instead.

In a report by GFI, this finding (shown above) is based on the data from National Vulnerabilities Database (NVD) that is maintained by US National Institute of Standards and Technology. Apart from the two operating systems from Apple, the report also stated that even Linux’s kernel has higher amount of vulnerabilities than Windows. That being said, the total number of vulnerabilities that Windows has is actually 248 if you consider all versions of Windows together.

While that news might sounds like a music to Microsoft, the company can’t rest though as the Internet Explorer has been listed in the report (shown below) as the application with the most amount of vulnerabilities reported in 2014. Even its popularity has waned down significantly over the years, IE was apparently at the top of the notorious chart in 2013.

In another part of the report, GFI also pointed out that there was a significant increase in amount of vulnerabilities added into NVD in 2014 as compared to 2013. Hence, it is wise to make sure that your operating system and applications are installed with latest updates in order to keep yourself protected from harms that could be caused by them even though you still couldn’t believe that Mac OS X, iOS and Linux somehow have more vulnerabilities than Windows.

[Source: GFI via Eugene Kaspersky]