If you weren"t already aware, Charlie Miller is a rather prominent white hat hacker and security expert, who regularly makes headlines as what he has to say is generally pretty important. He often participates in (and has won twice) the Pwn2Own competition, where groups of hackers compete against each other for rewards, in order to uncover security flaws in major operating systems or browsers.
As the Pwn2Own 2010 competition is a couple of weeks away, interviews with the competitors are beginning to be released, with the aforementioned Charlie Miller giving his thoughts on the currently world of technology security. Miller was asked which of the two operating systems out of Windows 7 and Snow Leopard would be harder to hack, with the answer being the former; Windows 7 has what is known as full ASLR (address space layout randomization), in addition to being harder to attack as Java and Flash aren"t installed by default. Upon being asked about the safest operating system plus browser combination, Miller responded with Windows 7 in addition to Internet Explorer 8 or Google"s Chrome browser – though, he also stated that not having Flash installed is a big factor. He stated, "There probably isn"t enough difference between the browsers to get worked up about. The main thing is not to install Flash!"
On the subject of mobile security, the question was raised over which platform is most secure, out of the iPhone OS and Android. Miller believes that the iPhone OS is easier to exploit, though that is because it has been around for longer, so security researchers have had a longer time to find vulnerabilities. Windows Phone 7 is a potential target for next years Pwn2Own, which is nothing but a good thing as it"ll help out the consumers who use it regularly.
It"s interesting to hear what an experienced security expert has to say on the matter which has been discussed. Be sure to stay attentive during the end of March when this year"s Pwn2Own is held, as it affects almost everybody.