Gadgetopia

CNet remarks on a study that pokes a little fun at the numerous MS-funded studies that suggest that Windows has a lower TCO, while Linux silently but surely gives you cancer. The study suggests that Windows also has a lower T0t4l c05t 0f 0wnz0rship, the cost a cracker has to pay in order to t0t4lly 0wnz0r your box.

Based on their tentative data, Immunity’s researchers found that their average time to find a flaw in the Red Hat-sponsored Fedora Core 2 distribution of Linux was about six days — twice as long on average as it took to find previously unknown Windows vulnerabilities. Several factors affect that time, including better tools for finding flaws in Windows systems, better kernel-level defenses in Linux, and more known points in Windows to execute attack code, the researchers noted.

Six days is still a scary-low number when you think about it. The CNet article also doesn’t mention the severity of the exploits.