One has to REALLY stretch to put OS X and iOS at the top of any vulnerability list! As has already been posted, exploits have been rampant in several pieces of software, as well as operating systems - easily exploited that many apparently still are (with Flash being a massive security black hole of death) - and I still have to make regular visits to my Dad’s to disinfect their two Windows-based PC’s - neither browse porn or other nefarious sites. Yes, they occasionally fall for the “click here to install..” garbage (that can pop up even WITH anti-malware running). I’ve tried to overcome their proclivity, but I’m afraid the “old dog/new trick” adage is accurate in their case.
I suppose the report above also fails to differentiate between known and corrected “possible” holes and malware that is installed intentionally by even known software from the original/authorized sources.
Yes, but of course that was the point of the article and this thread. Anything to make Apple look bad.
My original objection (now far upthread) was to the lumping together of ALL the various entries on the CVE into a single ridiculous TOTAL, that was then not only trumpeted as meaning something, but fingered as an indicator of greater or lesser security. Utter bullsh*t misuse of statistics.
It's widely known and acknowledged that over the years, both Microsoft and Apple lumped as many flaws into a single "report" as possible, to minimize the number of reports and thus the misleading "number of vulnerabilities" totals that make for click-bait headlines. *sigh*
They are but "tales told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".
The good news, perhaps, is that this thread DID bring out some useful information regarding how to protect systems. That, at least, justifies its existence.