According to Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner, Microsoft no longer has the dubious distinction of being at the top of the list when it comes to vulnerabilities. That honor belongs to Apple, says Turner, adding that Oracle is #2.

Citing the recently released Secunia Half Year Report 2010, Apple seems to be the maker of the most vulnerable software currently available.

"Oracle (including Sun Microsystems and BEA Logic) ranked #1 in four out of five years overtaken by Apple in the first half of 2010, with Apple consistently ranking higher than Microsoft. Despite increased investments into the security of their products, none of the seven vendors who occupied the Top-10 group in 2005 as well asin 2010 managed to decrease the number of vulnerabilities discovered in their products. On the contrary, the vulnerability count of each of these seven vendors has increased to reach in 2009 between 136% and 440% of the 2005 count," Secunia stated in the report.

"This analysis also supports the general perception that a high market share correlates with a high number of vulnerabilities. Apple (iTunes, Quicktime), Microsoft (Windows, Internet Explorer), and Sun Microsystems (Java, now part of Oracle) consistently occupy the top ranks during the last fi ve years, with Adobe (Acrobat Reader, Flash) joining the group in 2008. The ranking ... does not indicate the actual security (or lack thereof) in the different vendors products; it rather shows that vulnerabilities continue to be discovered in significant numbers in products from even the largest and most popular vendors including those who spend significant resources on improving the security of their products," Secunia added.

To read the complete story, see Microsoft Software Is More Secure than Apple's