Shocking! Apple’s OS X rated as most vulnerable software of 2015
Apple, a company with software not only believed to be highly secure by it’s users, but nearly ‘immune’, has been rated the most vulnerable software of 2015. That’s right, Apple’s main OS X operating system has been found to be the most vulnerable software of 2015, with their iPhone taking the runner up spot as well.
The shocking news was released by a study conducted by CVE Details, a website that tracks and publicly lists software exploits, categorizing them under their respected CVE numbers. The organization found that Apple’s software was vulnerable to more than 700 software bugs in 2015 alone, a staggering number.
With last year’s dozens of software catastrophes most would have expected Adobe Flash to top the list, due to the consistent number of zero-days Flash discovered right from the beginning of 2015. Even more shocking is that Adobe Flash didn’t even come in second place, the second place was dominated by yet another Apple product, the iPhone.
That’s right, the most vulnerable software goes to Apple’s OS X operating system while the runner up goes to their mobile device, the iPhone.
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures, or CVE’s are a system that provides a reference method for vulnerability identification and exposure. CVE’s are commonly used by security researchers, app developers, security firms as well as dozens of others even including the government. The list of vulnerabilities is all produced by researchers, firms, organizations and even the software creators themselves who use CVE identifiers.
The list of vulnerabilities complied by CVE Details are all the public vulnerabilities published by NIST’s National Vulnerability Database (NVD). CVE Details acts as a searchable repository for the amass of vulnerabilities begin reported every day, week, month and year.
According to their research, Apple’s main OS X operation system was plagued by 384 vulnerabilities last year while their iPhone was plagued by another 375 vulnerabilities in 2015. This totals Apple’s OS X and iPhone to be vulnerable to 759 publicly disclosed vulnerabilities in 2015 alone. This does not include the dozens of vulnerabilities discovered in Safari, iTunes, Apple TV or any of Apple’s other products.
While Apple has not only taken the number one and number two spot for most vulnerable products of 2015, the have also won the title of most vulnerable vendor of 2015. In some good news, last years contender for the spot IBM, has moved down to number seven on the list, while Apple rose from number give in 2014.
The news comes as a shock to people all over, whether it be developers, researchers, or even Apple users themselves. Apple’s OS X and iOS have always been highly praised by the public for their seeming immunity to large number of common threats and attacks. However, on the forefront of high-skilled and complex attackers Apple is not quite as highly-secured as to be believed.
Apple gaining the title for most vulnerable software of 2015 is quite the headline to start off the 2016. Hopefully the recent title of most vulnerable software of 2015 may shed some light that Apple’s technology is just as vulnerable, if not more, than the rest of today’s technology.