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Buy a Mac and say goodbye to patching Windows

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    Buy a Mac and say goodbye to patching Windows

    http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/securit...9234678,00.htm

    OS X contains unpatched security flaws of a type that were fixed on alternative operating systems more than a decade ago, according to a security researcher credited with finding numerous bugs in Apple's increasingly popular platform.

    Neil Archibald, senior security researcher at software security specialists Suresec, told ZDNet Australia that as Apple's market share increases, OS X will come under more scrutiny by security researchers, who he believes will find plenty of "low-hanging bugs".

    Archibald, who has already discovered a number of security vulnerabilities in OS X, speculates that should Apple's market share continue to increase, users of the platform could actually end up less secure than users of other platforms such as Microsoft Windows or Linux.

    "The only thing which has kept Mac OS X relatively safe up until now is the fact that the market share is significantly lower than that of Microsoft Windows or the more common UNIX platforms.… If this situation was to change, in my opinion, things could be a lot worse on Mac OS X than they currently are on other operating systems, regarding security vulnerabilities," said Archibald.


    http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1...9285954,00.htm

    Apple issued four security updates on Thursday to fix flaws in Mac OS X and iChat identified by the Month of Apple Bugs project.

    Two of the flaws could allow an attacker to execute code on an unpatched system, Apple said. Patches are now available on Apple's website or through the Software Update selection under the Apple menu on a Mac.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4739432.stm

    Experts have uncovered a serious security hole in the way Apple software handles downloaded files.
    The flaw could give malicious attackers a back door into Mac computers if users visit carefully crafted websites and download booby-trapped files.

    http://blog.washingtonpost.com/secur...60_seco_1.html

    Hijacking a Macbook in 60 Seconds or Less

    If you want to grab the attention of a roomful of hackers, one sure fire way to do it is to show them a new method for remotely circumventing the security of an Apple Macbook computer to seize total control over the machine. That's exactly what hackers Jon "Johnny Cache" Ellch and David Maynor plan to show today in their Black Hat presentation on hacking the low-level computer code that powers many internal and external wireless cards on the market today.

    The video shows Ellch and Maynor targeting a specific security flaw in the Macbook's wireless "device driver," the software that allows the internal wireless card to communicate with the underlying OS X operating system. While those device driver flaws are particular to the Macbook -- and presently not publicly disclosed -- Maynor said the two have found at least two similar flaws in device drivers for wireless cards either designed for or embedded in machines running the Windows OS. Still, the presenters said they ultimately decided to run the demo against a Mac due to what Maynor called the "Mac user base aura of smugness on security."

    I could go on, there seems to be hundreds of flaws. If it wasn't for the fact that no one uses Macs, I think you'd find it has more holes than a Swiss cheese.

    No doubt it's all Microsofts fault.
    Last edited by DimPrawn; 16 February 2007, 13:29.

    #2
    Apart from the fact that anyone who is complacent enough to think that there are no security vulnerabilities right now in their chosen OS, whatever it is, is an idiot, that market share thing is something that can be proven wrong with just one example - which has a track history of being most secure, Apache or IIS?
    Listen to my last album on Spotify

    Comment


      #3
      It's not "cool" to attack open source.

      99.99% of malicious hackers target Microsoft. If the hacking community turned on Apache or Linux, voila, another Swiss Cheese.

      Comment


        #4
        First of all you quote this:-

        The only thing which has kept Mac OS X relatively safe up until now is the fact that the market share is significantly lower than that of Microsoft Windows or the more common UNIX platforms

        But since Apache has a much greater market share in terms of Internet facing servers (Intranets don't count in this case), how does the "it isn't cool" argument work?

        Either people are targetting the most popular platform or they're not.
        Listen to my last album on Spotify

        Comment


          #5
          A security vulnerability is not the same as a virus.

          How many actual (ie not 'concept') OSX viruses/spyware etc exist?
          Last edited by interested; 16 February 2007, 14:02.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Cowboy Bob
            which has a track history of being most secure, Apache or IIS?
            Apache of course! But I don't see that that proves all OSS is pure goodness and all proprietary software is buggy, insecure tulipe.

            I'm no fan of IIS, but unfortunately, I often have to work with it, as that's what's used on most corporate intranets.

            Apache dominates on the Internet but not in the intranet environment where you need your webserver to interop reliably with SQL Server, Sharepoint, Exchange and all that other MS stuff.

            You've come right out the other side of the forest of irony and ended up in the desert of wrong.

            Comment


              #7
              The statistic used to be there were more defaced sites run on Apache then IIS, however, this is due to the number of sites run on Apache/Linux, rather than the number of Apache/Linux boxes v IIS boxes.

              Mind you, the statistic has probably changed since I last looked...

              Older and ...well, just older!!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by bogeyman
                Apache of course! But I don't see that that proves all OSS is pure goodness and all proprietary software is buggy, insecure tulipe.
                Never said it was. I was just shooting down DPs argument that Windows has more exploits because it's more popular.
                Listen to my last album on Spotify

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by ratewhore
                  The statistic used to be there were more defaced sites run on Apache then IIS, however, this is due to the number of sites run on Apache/Linux, rather than the number of Apache/Linux boxes v IIS boxes.

                  Mind you, the statistic has probably changed since I last looked...

                  To be fair, defacing a site is usually more to do with directory permissions and an open CGI interface rather than an exploit in Apache (or IIS for that matter). 99% of the time it is down to administrator error than any bugs.

                  Unless of course you have PHP installed, but then that's one giant bug in itself...
                  Listen to my last album on Spotify

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Cowboy Bob
                    I was just shooting down DPs argument that Windows has more exploits because it's more popular.
                    I think you were firing blanks....
                    Vieze Oude Man

                    Comment

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