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Microsoft is two years late to the tablet market. While there are Windows 7 tablets available in the market, they sell in the thousands where Apple sells iPads in the tens of millions.

Microsoft believes Windows 8 and Windows on ARM (WOA) will not just get it in the tablet game, but make it a stiff challenger to Apple’s dominance and Android’s explosive growth. Ironically, the secret weapon working in Microsoft’s favor isn’t interoperability with legacy systems or its new Metro interface. No, the secret weapon is security.

In a conversation with a senior Microsoft channel executive, Channelnomics heard a very curious line of reasoning. The person, whom we’re declining to name, said to the effect that Apple’s and Android’s growing security woes and the increasing volume of malware targeting those systems will make Windows 8 tablets attractive to executives who want interoperability and security.

There’s a lot of logic in this sentiment, as well as much irony.

It was just 10 years ago that Microsoft suspended development on Windows XP and other applications under the weight of huge security failures and lingering concerns about the integrity of its code base. Hackers were shredding Windows NT and 2000 to pieces, leaving government agencies and large enterprises frustrated and holding the bag on costs. In short, customers were threatening to defect if Microsoft didn’t take action.

To correct its security problems, Microsoft launched its “Trustworthy Computing Initiative,” a sweeping campaign to stomp out buffer overflows and other vulnerabilities in existing applications and future releases. Initial patches to existing systems helped improve security. Patch Tuesday, the regular and predictable release of patches, made security fixes easier to plan and implement. Coding improvements made Windows XP more secure than NT. Microsoft striving for security improvements caused Windows Vista to fall dramatically off schedule. Nevertheless, when Vista did hit the market, security wasn’t one of its shortcomings.

Here’s where the mobile security journey is laced with irony. Ten years ago, Microsoft was often compared to the higher security of Linux and Apple Mac OS – each with single-digit market share. Critics would point to the minuscule number of viruses written for these platforms, and how few hacks hit these operating systems. Microsoft’s counterargument was these platforms would become targets when they gained a critical mass in the market.

And lo and behold, Microsoft’s rivals have achieved more than critical mass. Google Android and Apple iOS split the mobility market with smartphones and tablets. Microsoft is a player in the mobility market, but its Windows Phone 7 operating system has less than a 4 percent market share. Not surprising, Android and Apple are the two biggest hacker and virus targets in mobility, where there’s nary a black hat circling Windows Phone 7.

Our friends at Microsoft believe the increasing number of security black marks against Android and Apple iOS will work in its favor when Windows 8 on a cadre of tablets by vendors such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Lenovo hit the market next fall.

If some analyst predictions are accurate and the Microsoft channel executive Channelnomics spoke with is correct, the market – particularly business users – are waiting for a Windows tablet. Microsoft will have a definitive security advantage – at least until it gains a critical deployment mass.