64-bit Windows safer, claims Microsoft

64-bit Windows safer, claims Microsoft
Computerworld -

Windows users running 64-bit versions of the operating system are less likely to get infected by attack code, Microsoft's security team said yesterday.

But that doesn't mean they won't, countered an outside security researcher.
"64-bit Windows has some of the lowest reported malware infection rates in the first half of 2009," said Joe Faulhaber of the Microsoft Malware Protection Center in a post to the group's blog yesterday. "64-bit malware is still exceedingly rare in the wild."

Faulhaber cited statistics gleaned from Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRC), a free malware detection and deletion utility the company updates and pushes to users monthly. According to Microsoft's data, the 64-bit version of Windows XP was 48% less likely to be infected than the 32-bit edition during the first half of 2009; PCs running Vista 64-bit, meanwhile, were 35% less likely to be infected than Vista 32-bit.

Windows 7, which was not included in the data for the first half of this year because it had not been released in final form, also is available in both 32- and 64-bit editions. Faulhaber noted that Windows 7 64-bit is the dominant flavor of that new OS as he touted its security. "Most PCs shipping with Windows 7 come with the 64-bit versions of Windows," he observed.

More............64-bit Windows safer, claims Microsoft

I don't get it. I'm pretty sure x64 systems can still get infected with 32-bit malware, the same way they can still run 32-bit programs. Windows 7 has some nice default security features over XP, but I'm not sure that the x64 systems are at an advantage.

Unless they're talking about PatchGuard, somehow, which I still maintain is a security flaw and not a benefit.

I'm not really sure, but I use a good anti-virus software, spyware detector, and personal firewall and I can't even remember the last time I had a virus or malware installed on my computers.

Try this Google search, the make up your own mind:

Look over these search results and see if there's more detailed infomation:
64-bit Windows safer, claims Microsoft - Google Search

Firefox was pretty secure at one time also...