Now that there are three million iPads in the wild around the world, users are anxiously waiting for all of the updated features available in iOS 4 such as multitasking and folders. Apple has already announced that the firmware update will come to the iPad in Fall 2010. This latest mobile operating system launched on June 21 for late-model iPhone and iPod Touch owners.

What iPad fans might not realize is that the latest update to Apple's firmware patches a record 65 security holes and bugs. iPhone OS 3.0 fixed 46 different operating system vulnerabilities when it was launched around a year ago. Approximately half of the patches delivered with iOS 4 corrected serious issues.

The open-source browser engine used in Safari known as WebKit accounted for 50 of the security flaws that were patched with iOS 4. Arbitrary code execution is the largest threat to Apple operating systems, and 35 of these bugs were labeled with this explanation.

Arbitrary code execution means that the vulnerability is critical enough that malicious programs could possibly take over an iPad. The latest update to Safari brought the desktop version of Apple's web browser to version 5 correcting 48 bugs. As Apple's products become more popular, they are increasingly becoming a target for malicious attacks, much like Windows has been for some time.

Although Microsoft systems are still more popular and therefore a larger target for viruses, trojans and other nefarious software, Apple may need to issue security updates independently of large firmware upgrades in the near future. What's clear is that iPad users remain vulnerable to all of the exploits that have already been patched in iOS 4.

It's hard to say whether or not iPad owners should be worried about their already-outdated operating system. Apple is definitely aware of the issues facing iPad owners and security firms will be watching for any problems on the device. If Apple continues to sell 45k iPads daily, eventually it will need to address the ongoing delay in updating firmware security.