Mac Coming into Focus As Attack Target

[johnee]

Good article about how mac os x is starting to be considered by hackers and apple's lack of a formal update process

http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070601/tc_zd/208750;_ylt=ArGHbdRrakRNulc2FzTAssgE1vAI

 

[Draythor]

So? Apple will respond by taking security to another level. The fact that OSX was built from the ground up and Windows Vista has old bits of 98 and xp code in makes Windows so much easier to crack.

 

[Eidorian]

And Apple has stepped up the number of Security Updates it puts out...

 

[Cromulent]

So? Apple will respond by taking security to another level. The fact that OSX was built from the ground up and Windows Vista has old bits of 98 and xp code in makes Windows so much easier to crack.

Err OS X was in no way "built from the ground up". You do know it is based on Unix don't you?

Some parts of the OS have a 30 year history to them. Granted the code has changed significantly but it was built based on an OS that predates 1998 by 20 years easily.

 

[epicwelshman]

So? Apple will respond by taking security to another level. The fact that OSX was built from the ground up and Windows Vista has old bits of 98 and xp code in makes Windows so much easier to crack.

Do you mean Tiger was built from the ground up, or OSX as a whole? If you mean OSX as a whole, the criticising Vista for having elements of XP in it make no sense, as Tiger has elements of 10.1 in it, which lead to the same conclusion. I agree that Windows is easier to crack, but at least give better reasons than it simply being an update of XP, as by your logic Tiger and even Leopard and just as vulnerable.

 

[kalisphoenix]

So? Apple will respond by taking security to another level. The fact that OSX was built from the ground up and Windows Vista has old bits of 98 and xp code in makes Windows so much easier to crack. </sarcasm>

You might want to remember that tag in the future. Some people don't have my keen ability to recognize sarcasm.

 

[zero2dash]

This guy said it best:

He told eWEEK that he's been working on Mac security in his spare time for about four years.

The $10 million question for both the hackers, of course, is an old one: Which is more secure, Windows or Macs?

That's the question I get hung with," Dai Zovi said. "My general sense is everything has vulnerabilities. There's nothing special about one platform that makes it impervious to vulnerabilities. Someone who knows what they're doing ... can find these vulnerabilities. Apple's been putting out [patches monthly for awhile]. Anybody who knows what's going on can develop exploits for these. There are many things the platform does security-wise that are somewhat better than Windows, but Windows has other security strengths, as well.

 

[elppa]

Having "old" code does not by nature make it insecure.

UNIX derivatives are secure for that reason, they have been battle-tested in a wide variety of environment and the code has been scrutinised by many eyes.

Provided it is maintained, there is no reason that OS X cannot be as secure as it is toady, regardless of market-share.

One thing you cannot afford to be is blasé when it comes to security and I think Apple have demonstrated that they are certainly not.

embracing Symantec [and its Macintosh security products] instead of treating them like you would any other evil," it would all be for the good,

I prefer the current option.

 

[MisterMe]

... Someone who knows what they're doing ... can find these vulnerabilities....

People keep saying it, but they keep not doing it. Lest we not forget that just a few months ago, we had a month devoted to finding MacOS X vulnerabilities. In the first few days, some worrisome problems were reported. However, the project turned into a big snooze long before the month ended.

Let's get a few things straight:

There are no MacOS X viruses.
There is no MacOS X spyware.

Wake me when you find one.

 

[chadi]

Let's get a few things straight:

There are no MacOS X viruses.
There is no MacOS X spyware.

Wake me when you find one.

Well there was this: http://www.viruslist.com/en/viruses/encyclopedia?virusid=112895 spreading it actually started on this forum (as they mention in the description).

To be fair to your statement, define a virus...if by a virus you mean some malicious code that can damage your system...then there is such a thing (check link) if by a virus you mean something that could bring an entire network to it's knees via some backdoor in OS X and propagate to other machines across the network (similar to how windows virii spread a lot of the time) then no there isn't.

I do enjoy how my mac requires a lot less precaution, as do my linux boxes, compared to my windows ones. But I do think we should keep an open mind

Or at least try to

 

[localoid]

... To be fair to your statement, define a virus...if by a virus you mean some malicious code that can damage your system...then there is such a thing (check link) if by a virus you mean something that could bring an entire network to it's knees via some backdoor in OS X and propagate to other machines across the network (similar to how windows virii spread a lot of the time) then no there isn't...

You're making wild guesses at what you think a computer virus is... Look it up.

 

[Nym]

Until I get a nasty one that deletes my Home folder I'll be singing:

"Macs don't have viruses Macs don't have Spyware" ...

bwahahahahah.