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Mac Security In Spotlight

Ms

aLoC said:
Microsoft has really picked up their game lately. Apple need to consider that maybe, somehow, Microsoft is better than them now (in this area).
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Not ............................ It is still MUCH easier to hack the Vista OS as an OS than it is to hack the Unix OS X as an OS. If it weren't for this one incident, OS X would likely be sitting side-by-side with it's sibling Linux. This ought be be a good incentive, however, for Apple to step-up production of security patches for apps which run on OS X.
 
whatsthemac said:
Forgive me if this was mentioned before but...

I think that adding in the laptop as a prize makes the time-order that the systems were cracked a little less telling about which OS is more insecure. If I were at there, I would definitely be more attracted to the Macbook Air and would have spent my time trying to exploit it first.
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It only took up 2 minutes of the 2nd day to do this, its not like all the hackers were trying to crack the same laptop for the whole day hoping to finish first. Plus why would they care about the laptop? The real prize was $10,000, smart people would forget about the laptop you get and go for the easiest win.

Not ............................ It is still MUCH easier to hack the Vista OS as an OS than it is to hack the Unix OS X as an OS. If it weren't for this one incident, OS X would likely be sitting side-by-side with it's sibling Linux. This ought be be a good incentive, however, for Apple to step-up production of security patches for apps which run on OS X.
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What brings you to this conclusion? XP maybe, but Vista has not had very many security holes compared to OS X.
 
Frisco said:
Great question. Because I still love the Mac community, especially Macrumors and I am still fascinated by Apple products/rumors.

Believe me I hate Microsoft more than anyone, but I just see a different light these days.
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That's a good enough reason for me. There's always better stories around the campfire.
<sniff> What is that burning smell? ;)
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

This is pretty scary. I hope that this sort of thing will be fixed in the very near future. Apple cannot lose any more ground on the security front because there will eventually be an attack.
 
The proof is in the pudding.

As a generic user of Apple computers since 1984, I have long watched reams of discourse on security pro and con. I am not in the computer industry nor have I any aspirations of becoming a hacker. Mac security is like Fermi's paradox - If there is advanced life in the cosmos, then where is it? So if OS X, Safari, etc. are so vulnerable, then why has there never been a successful "Mac attack?" The Holy Grail of a big Mac hack, the very, very first, is tempting beyond belief. To achieve it would assign the hacker a place in hacker history. Don't give me the 8% baloney.
 
so uh maybe

let's see, did the same person hack all the laptops? NO. but he was, what, the best? he won didn't he?

so not only are ppl that use macs more intelligent but so are those who hack them.

it also appears that the rules did not prevent prepared [prior to contest] exploits from use and boy does that Air look swell!

BAH!
 
From a psychological perspective, Apple may have committed a faux pas in their marketing. Microsoft has always taken its security issues relatively seriously. While they were ridiculed, taunted and given a bad name throughout the industry, they have worked diligently to patch their many bugs. I mean, each time I install Windows XP SP2, there are literally 50+ patches to apply.

On the other hand, Apple has made the whole issue a farce in its advertising campaign. Macs are invulnerable to viruses. Macs are less prone to attacks. On and on it goes. From an advertising and marketing perspective, it's brilliant. But the subconscious message is one of arrogance. It's also made Apple a much more coveted target.

Hackers are taking note and making it into a challenge.
 
MBA Prize

So, hack the computer, win the laptop. It's no wonder the MBA was hacked so quickly! Did anyone go after that Linux box? :D
 
It doesn't matter how much time it took you to make the bomb.
All it matters it's that when it goes BOOM you're *****d.

And so, what really matters here is that OS X is. not. secure.

I don't care how long it took or if the guy was preparing the code before or if was a getting a massage on his ego or whatever the hell was happening. I don't give a crap about that.

What I cared about is that now when I click a link I'm as insecure as anyone else on Windows.
 
Wild-Bill said:
Welcome to last week.

I submitted this news article days ago, and you're just now posting it, and crediting longofest with the submission?

:rolleyes:
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I am sure 100 people submitted this article last week. I thought maybe the site was trying to sweet the incident under the rug :p
 
Frisco said:
I switched to Windows a few years ago after being a life long Mac user. Best decision I have ever made. I hate to say this, but Apple is all hype.
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Sadly, I figured this out 6 months after getting my first Mac. I want to like OS X and there are some definite sweet features on the OS and some must have apps, but there is a metric crap load of hype behind the Mac and OS X. the 6 times (4 on the first Mac, Apple replaced it, and 2 on the second one with now an intermittent video problem they refuse to fix because they can't recreate the problem when I'm there.) I've take my Mac in for repairs and the countless times I've beachballed into an outright freeze of OS X is testament to that. (Thank you craptastic Finder.) OS X is no worse and definitely no better then Windows.
 
esaleris said:
From a psychological perspective, Apple may have committed a faux pas in their marketing. Microsoft has always taken its security issues relatively seriously. While they were ridiculed, taunted and given a bad name throughout the industry, they have worked diligently to patch their many bugs. I mean, each time I install Windows XP SP2, there are literally 50+ patches to apply.

On the other hand, Apple has made the whole issue a farce in its advertising campaign. Macs are invulnerable to viruses. Macs are less prone to attacks. On and on it goes. From an advertising and marketing perspective, it's brilliant. But the subconscious message is one of arrogance. It's also made Apple a much more coveted target.

Hackers are taking note and making it into a challenge.
Click to expand...

But you are forgetting, mac os IS less prone to getting a virus. Its all in statistical analysis. I've always been against the whole bashing "PC" campaign, I think its stupid Apple won't let its computers speak for themselves like their iPod commercials did.
 
pdpfilms said:
Because OSX's "security" relies on the fact that it takes up only about 7% (or is it 8% now?) marketshare.
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Too bad this argument doesn't fly. OS9 had far more hacks and viruses than OS X and it had a heck of a lot less market share. It's sounds logical at first but then once you research the history it falls apart.

Apart from that I do agree that Apple needs to patch every known security issue. I'm more concerned about viruses since my network is fairly well secured. The chances of someone hacking into my network and then my computer is well, rare at best.
 
pdpfilms said:
Because OSX's "security" relies on the fact that it takes up only about 7% (or is it 8% now?) marketshare.

A man in camouflage is less likely to be shot than a man in a neon jumpsuit.

EDIT: aaaaand start the flame wars. (Just reread my post and realized it's going to offend 90% of the people reading it.)
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Its not offensive man, its just ignorant and wrong. You assume that market-share equals security or lack-thereof, this assumption is well...to say the least, flawed. No flame wars from me, but you really need to use some logic.
 
SiliconAddict said:
Sadly, I figured this out 6 months after getting my first Mac. I want to like OS X and there are some definite sweet features on the OS and some must have apps, but there is a metric crap load of hype behind the Mac and OS X. the 6 times (4 on the first Mac, Apple replaced it, and 2 on the second one with now an intermittent video problem they refuse to fix because they can't recreate the problem when I'm there.) I've take my Mac in for repairs and the countless times I've beachballed into an outright freeze of OS X is testament to that. (Thank you craptastic Finder.) OS X is no worse and definitely no better then Windows.
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You got a lemon, man. I've been using Mac's since I was 7 years old, and from time to time you get a lemon. Trust me, you are wrong about Mac's.
 
I'd much rather have Apple hiring hackers/virus creators workin' for Apple to improve their securities or whatever. BUT that's probably a bad idea though....

p.s. remember virus creators who created viruses works under Norton Antivirus? Also works for Microsoft? haha
 
I really wish people would read the article. It was social engineering, not a hack.
 
i had initially read somewhere that they needed a cable connection to the mba to hack it. but that seems not to be the case. if this can be done via safari and an ordinary website/email link then this is really bad.

in some way it's a good thing because we mac users have become quite complacent with os x's security. and apple needs to step up their efforts a bit.

less ipods and less iphones and more mac and os x please!;)
 
I have a new-found respect for MacRumors users. I thought that most of you would remain "loyal" to Apple in the comments, but it's good to see some people are still living in reality.
 
Microsoft is likely to have more 0 day patches because they are the only people who look at their code.

If they find a problem internally, they are unlikely to broadcast it from the rooftops for the 2 months while they work on the fix.

Far better to officially announce the problem 2 months when the fix is ready. And voila! an 0 day patch.

I'm not having a go at MS, that's one advantage of having a proprietary code base, but put in that context, this 0 day patch thing (whilst it sounds very impressive) actually means very little.

The one thing you cannot afford to do is be blasé about security, but I still see the Mac as a very secure platform. When I start experience real-world vulnerabilities is when I will begin to look for alternatives.

The mention of Quicktime doesn't surprise me at all. Quicktime is great, it started the multimedia revolution on computers, and is the power behind iTunes + iPod and all the iApps, as well as many of Apple's Pro Applications.

That said Quicktime needs a big overhaul, it's old code which is full of well documented potential security flaws. I reckon this is why Quicktime 8 is taking so long in coming. Massive parts are being rewritten.
 
Last Year

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is how last year's contest may have impacted this year's contest outcome. I was at CanSecWest last year (though couldn't go this year) and they had a Hack The Mac contest. There was only a Mac - no Windows and no Linux. I am sure many people went home and thought about how they would hack the Mac this year, planning and developing accordingly, only to find three computers offered up. This doesn't mean the hack wasn't significant, but it does mean there was certainly more advance thought given to attacking the Mac than the other platforms. As an aside, like this year, the Mac last year only fell ofter they relaxed the rules.

I also agree with the people that say given the opportunity to hack Vista versus the Mac, I too would chose the Mac - both to win the new Macbook Air versus a "PC", and because it would probably make more press (which it did). I don't agree though that hacking Ubuntu would be a yawn - I think it would be as important if not a bit more so than hacking a Mac.
 
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