Cybersecurity is one of the biggest and most important conversations for every small business, and for good reason. It seems like each week there is another story about hackers breaching a company’s secure information or a cyberattack resulting in leaked data that impacts a business and its customers.
These breaches not only cost money to patch or repair; they do significant damage to a brand’s reputation and position in the marketplace, which in turn impacts the bottom line.
There are countless technical solutions available to your small business, including firewalls, antivirus software, VPNs, and more. But starting with the basics—including your choice of operating system—is one of the best entry points for security reviews and discussions.
That’s why we’ve gathered a panel of IT professionals and cybersecurity experts to learn more about their thoughts on the least and most secure operating systems, and the security features and vulnerabilities businesses should be concerned with.
Security concerns and small business operating systems
To start things off, we wanted to get a sense of the security concerns and vulnerabilities that our experts have identified. From personal computers to servers to mobile devices and smartphones, operating systems are at the core of every device used to make small businesses successful. And there are many security issues—from spyware to cyberattacks—that small business owners need to take into consideration.
“In general, all operating systems can be quite secure, as long as you keep them updated. Any operating system that is not up-to-date presents a security risk as there can be known, old vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. That being said, Microsoft Windows tends to be considered the least secure system as it allows you to do riskier activities than other systems like MacOS or Linux. Windows systems are also much more prone to be targeted by malware attacks.” – Nicolas Montauban, Growth Strategist at Codific
Several of our experts were in agreement that Microsoft Windows was, generally speaking, the least secure operating system choice. And there were a variety of reasons for that. Not only are Windows PCs and Windows users ubiquitous (and so more likely to be targeted by ransomware and hacking), but Windows also lacks some of the security features found in other operating systems.
“The least secure operating system by default has to be Windows. That’s because it’s not any one setting, but a combination of factors that play into this. Security is like an onion; when many layers have problems, it tends to ruin the whole onion (organization). Microsoft is also often the target for CVEs (common vulnerabilities and exposures) but features such as WinRM, which by default don’t enable encryption in transit, serve users poorly as they simply flip the switch and don’t get secure-by-default functionality.” – Miclain Keffeler, CTO/Co-Founder of West Tennessee Consulting
The prevalence of Windows systems around the world can’t be overlooked, simply because it makes Windows systems and other Microsoft computer systems a much bigger and more popular target. So while there are some specific vulnerabilities that are unique to Windows, much of the concern over security comes from simply having more users and more companies on Microsoft systems.
“Apple MacOS is by far much more secure than Windows. Linux is also more secure than Windows. Quite simply because Windows is the most widely used OS and is a more lucrative target than Mac or Linux, it is always going to receive more attacks than other operating systems.” – Tom Kirkham, Founder, CEO and CISO of IronTech Security
Most secure operating system recommendations
On the other side of the coin, you have IT and cybersecurity professionals who each have their own, specific preference when it comes to secure operating systems. But almost across the board, many of our panelists pointed to Linux options as the best place for small businesses to get started.
“The most secure operating system in my opinion is the one that provides the most comprehensive security features for its users. Some of these features include application and data sandboxing, system hardening, user authentication and access control, encryption, and a secure update system. Linux-based systems are typically some of the most secure, due to their open-source nature and potential for customization.” – Harmandeep Singh, Director at Cyphere
When it came to recommending the most secure operating system, numerous panelists and expert contributors offered open-source software solutions such as Linux. And some went so far as to recommend specific Linux distros because of the unique security measures and other options that are built in.
“The most secure operating system in my opinion is Linux. It is an open-source operating system, which means that its code is available to be inspected and adapted by anyone, making it difficult for malicious actors to hide code without being detected. Additionally, Linux is known for its strong security model, advanced authentication, and access control mechanisms, as well as its secure network stack.” – Melissa Vincent, IT Officer at Hoff & Mazor
As for specific choices and recommendations of Linux builds and the options available, popular choices include Ubuntu and Debian. But our panel of experts did not hesitate to dig a little deeper into the list of options and make recommendations based on their personal experience and security knowledge.
“Whonix is an open-source operating system that prioritizes user privacy and security. Whonix offers a wide variety of anti-tracking protection solutions, such as Boot Clock Randomization and secure network time synchronization with sdwdate (Secure Distributed Web Date). There are two virtual machines in Whonix, and they are called the Workstation and the Gateway. While the former operates on a dedicated network solely for user applications, the latter hosts Tor processes and serves as a gateway.” – Raine Gui, Founder and Creative Director at Model Chic
There are many Linux options in the marketplace, which can make choosing one option over all the others seem overwhelming.
But the benefit of selection and a common foundation is that within Linux operating systems, you have a wide variety of features and options that will make a great open-source OS selection to meet your company needs.
“Offensive Security has developed the open-source operating system Kali Linux for testing Linux distributions, penetration testing, network security assessments, and hacking. This makes it one of the most secure operating systems available. It includes all of the standard Linux features and tools, and in terms of security tools, it comes preinstalled with over 600 penetration testing tools that are regularly updated and available for multiple platforms, including ARM and VMware.” – Brad Anderson, Executive Director at FRUITION
While Linux certainly got a lot of attention from our panel, and while many IT professionals point to MacOS as being a more secure option than Windows, not everyone believed that Windows was a bad choice for small businesses.
“Features like group policy, conditional access, and application control allow Windows to be the most secure OS. Windows 10 is the most secure OS just because it has been almost fully patched compared to Windows 11, which is newer and therefore has more vulnerabilities which may come up.” – Kenny Henao, President of BCA IT, Inc.
Additionally, while MacOS is often considered a great choice from a security standpoint, it is not immune from threats. Apple computer systems can still be compromised by many of the same methods used to breach other systems. One thing that is true of every operating system is that keeping things up to date and patched is the best first line of defense.
“It is generally considered (true) that MacOS is more secure than Windows, but this does not mean that Macs are immune to security threats. Macs do have some security advantages over Windows, such as the fact that they are less commonly targeted by hackers and malware due to their smaller market share. In addition, the default security settings on Macs are generally stronger than those on Windows computers. However, no operating system is completely secure, and it is important to regularly update your operating system and install security patches to help protect against vulnerabilities.” – Chad Gniffke, CEO of BRITECITY
Choosing the most secure operating system for your business
There are, of course, still other operating system choices available, such as Chrome OS. But our panel of experts focused on the options mentioned above as the most popular and most well supported choices. Many of them also kept their advice focused on operating systems for enterprise computing, but there is much more to explore with web browser security, app stores, iPhone and Android devices, and much more.
Your company’s entire technology suite is important to consider from a security standpoint, but because virtually every business function involves a computer in some way, operating system security may be the very best place for small businesses to get started.
If selecting an operating system for your business needs still feels like a daunting task, or if you are looking for technology support and advice to secure your systems from the hard drive to the cloud, reach out to any of our partners here at UpCity. The well-reviewed cybersecurity and IT partners available are ready to help ensure the security, stability, and growth of your small business.