It is hard to deny that security has taken a front seat at Microsoft these past few years. Not only are its software more waterproof, the company also actively patches and fixes any flaws that are unearthed.
The 2013 Vulnerability Review by Secunia aims to provide a clear picture on the evolution of software security from endpoint, enterprise, industry as well as global perspectives.
And when it comes to statistics, no less than 9,776 were discovered in 2012 — a downright record compared to the previous five years. Interestingly, though, things were much more focused last year as the number of vendors and products affected were the lowest in years.
Microsoft vulnerabilities accounted for only 14 percent of the overall flaws reported last year, a significant improvement over the previous year. Redmond, however, issued patches for only 50 different vulnerabilities.
While Google had to deal with a total of 291 security flaws that affected its Chrome browser, Internet Explorer only had 41 glitches reported. A total of 10 flaws were unearthed in Microsoft Excel, and for Microsoft Silverlight the corresponding figure amounts to 5.
Windows 7 tops the chart, as Microsoft had to patch a total of 50 flaws last year.
The figures show that Redmond has managed to reduce the number of overall vulnerabilities in its software, while at the same time cutting the time needed to patch these flaws — a sign of the software titan’s increased emphasis on security.
Ultimately, Secunia has placed Microsoft on the first place with 29 software solutions, while third-party developers accounted for 21 entries in the list.
