Not all security experts are comfortable with a description that Linux is more iron-clad than Windows. Some even mock the popular explanation that Linux is more secure because attackers are not drawn to its much smaller user base compared to Windows.

"It doesn't matter what operating system is used. They are all subjected to potential intrusion," disputed Sternberg. "Linux is not any more secure than Windows."

Hackers capitalize on the exploits they find in the Windows environment but deliberately do not dwell on the known weaknesses in Linux because they use that operating system themselves, according to Sternberg.

"The only time people fix flaws in an operating system is when those flaws cause an inconvenience," Sternberg claimed. "The lower incidence of Linux attacks has nothing to do with the user base being less than Windows."

The biggest design flaw in Linux is its over-reliance on code scripts. Linux is far more scripted than Windows, he noted. Because of this heavy reliance on scripting, nothing is checking its lines of code compared to the amount of code-checking done in Windows when it is compiled.

Using thin clients with on-demand applications delivered over the Internet are now mainstream in the corporate world, Sternberg emphasized. Thin clients are all Linux boxes.

"Corporations are deploying Linux over Windows. It is only a matter of time before Linux attacks become more prevalent and publicized," he warned.