New Airport Driver Exploit Released For Some Older Macs

[SC68Cal]

OK - that was funny. It made me think of our neighbor's old Osborne "portable" computer (that weighed almost 45 pounds).

I wonder though - are there many hackers actually equipped to exploit this vulnerability, and of those who are, how many feel the need to single out Macs when there's a myriad of Windows based systems with much easier hacked access out there (because we all know that not everyone updates Windows on the daily basis that it needs to keep up with the vulnerabilities)? I'd be very surprised if more than a handful of Mac users are actually attacked using this method.

I don't really believe that any of these exploits that have been released have been released in order to make a profit. The first exploit that was released at Black Hat was released because the guys were pissed off at the new Get a Mac commercials.

This exploit is just more of the same thing.

I have to say I'm dissapointed at all parties over the whole Black Hat thing. Apple, the hackers, and the press. Made everyone seem like a bunch of kids arguing with eachother on Myspace.

 

[wnurse]

Who's being snobbish?

Everytime there is a new article on "New Mac Virus Released" the same tune is played over and over.... "You Mac fanboys are getting what's coming to you because of the snobby bastards you are..."

Mac OS X is more secure than windows is.

No one has ever said (or would ever say for that matter) that they are unhackable because thats just not true. But, that still doesn't change the fact that windows has a LOT more security holes than OS X.

OS X will stay the more secure (of the 2 OSes) until they get more viruses than windows.

Actually, lots of mac fans have said the mac is unhackable. (I suspect naive, young mac fans, the veterans would never make such a blanket statement).

But yeah, it's been said.

 

[gnasher729]

This is not an exploit.

Don't know if anyone noticed: This is not an exploit. So far, it is a vulnerability (which means someone might be able to create an exploit or not) and a denial of service attack (which means someone can crash your machine). Nobody has yet managed to take control of a machine using these cards, so it is not an exploit.

And the poor sod who just recovered from the boring job of checking the drivers for new wireless cards for vulnerabilities (job well done) now can go on to the even more boring job of checking the drivers for cards that haven't been sold for the last three years... Thank god it's not me.

 

[ChrisA]

Let's put this in perspective. Before this flaw can be exploited three things have to happen

1) Someone has to write some malware that uses this method

2) You have to have an older Airport card that is turned on

3) The "bad guy" has to be physically close to your computer, within Airport range, say a few hundred feet.

Condition #3 will protect 99.9 percent of the Mac in the world

Condition #2 will do nothing to motivate people to write #1

 

[iMikeT]

I love when a brouhaha arises from any "exploit" that can happen on a Mac.

What's funny is that after one does some further reading about the exploit, one discovers that the exploit can only be achieved under special and specific circumstances.

 

[0010101]

For the record, 99.975% of the things I do with a computer are done under MacOSX. I own several Macs, and 1 'PC', which is currently sitting in a closet robbed of its hard drives and power supply.

I think Windows sucks.

So if I make a comment critical of Apple or OSX, it isn't from an 'anti-Apple' point of view, quite the contrary.

I have met many, MANY devout Apple 'fanboys' who spout off half-truths and make outrageous claims about OSX.

OSX is far better than Windows, but it isn't bulletproof.

As the platform becomes more and more popular, exploits will become more and more common.

If i'm a guy who likes to write bugs/exploits for fun, i'm probably not going to run out and buy a $700+ Mac, then spend countless hours picking thru the OS trying to find holes in an OS used by less than 10% of the computer users out there.

But as Apples market share increases, the more tempting of a target OSX will become.. and the more common exploits/viruses/vulnerabilities will become.

I'm a huge fan of OSX.. but i'm also a realist.

 

[nagromme]

Actually, lots of mac fans have said the mac is unhackable. (I suspect naive, young mac fans, the veterans would never make such a blanket statement).

But yeah, it's been said.

I'm sure SOMEONE has said anything that could be said. I myself have never heard it said, and you would be hard pressed to come up with many (any?) links to people saying that. The ignorance of saying "the mac is unhackable" is simply extremely rare.

What's not at ALL rare is people SAYING "lots of mac fans have said the mac is unhackable" 😀 One could quickly come up with numerous links of that ilk.

But nothing beats a good Straw Man! 🙂

If i'm a guy who likes to write bugs/exploits for fun, i'm probably not going to run out and buy a $700+ Mac, then spend countless hours picking thru the OS trying to find holes in an OS used by less than 10% of the computer users out there.

You will if you want prestige and ego: and that DOES motivate some hackers. That's why there are such things as hacking contests, and why Macs have been worth extra points in such contests for years.

There are viruses written for smaller targets than OS X. The much BIGGER reason people aren't motivated to write true destructive viruses for OS X is that it's simply much more difficult! (In fact, it's never been done, though I believe one day there will be one.)

 

[hulugu]

OK - that was funny. It made me think of our neighbor's old Osborne "portable" computer (that weighed almost 45 pounds).

I wonder though - are there many hackers actually equipped to exploit this vulnerability, and of those who are, how many feel the need to single out Macs when there's a myriad of Windows based systems with much easier hacked access out there (because we all know that not everyone updates Windows on the daily basis that it needs to keep up with the vulnerabilities)? I'd be very surprised if more than a handful of Mac users are actually attacked using this method.

I've thought the same thing. This exploit requires a hacker within Airport range using something like Kismet who will then send a specific packet of malformed code. Of course, if the target has a newish computer, or if the computer has found the wireless network and stopped scanning, it won't work.

What's more interesting is the pants-wetting joy that people like Ou engage in.

As many times as he, and others, can trot out Artie MacStrawman and his insistence that the Mac is perfect, we can see that reasonable members of the Mac community don't think this way.

If you're looking for data, or to steal someone's wireless connection, there are much easier targets.

Tempest in a teacup.

 

[hulugu]

Actually, lots of mac fans have said the mac is unhackable. (I suspect naive, young mac fans, the veterans would never make such a blanket statement).

But yeah, it's been said.

Yes, and there are people who profess belief in Atlantis, too. That doesn't mean it's reasonable to do so.

Plus, we can't get Artie MacStrawman to shut up.

 

[Snowy_River]

Yes, and there are people who profess belief in Atlantis, too. That doesn't mean it's reasonable to do so.

Plus, we can't get Artie MacStrawman to shut up.

Hey! It is perfectly reasonable to believe in Atlantis. There's plenty of historical data that supports an advanced seafaring civilization that fits the pattern of Atlantis. My personal favorite is the model that suggests that Atlantis was located on the East coast of South America.

However, I don't believe that Mac OS X is bullet-proof. It's just more secure than Windows. (Kind of like comparing a tank to an armored Humvee. They can both withstand some kinds of attacks, but the tank is ultimately a harder nut to crack, just to mix my metaphors. 😉 )

Now, believing that Atlantis currently exists, and is some kind of miraculous, magical underwater city... that seems a bit crazy to me, though I've met some people who seem to feel that way.

 

[hulugu]

Hey! It is perfectly reasonable to believe in Atlantis. There's plenty of historical data that supports an advanced seafaring civilization that fits the pattern of Atlantis. My personal favorite is the model that suggests that Atlantis was located on the East coast of South America.

However, I don't believe that Mac OS X is bullet-proof. It's just more secure than Windows. (Kind of like comparing a tank to an armored Humvee. They can both withstand some kinds of attacks, but the tank is ultimately a harder nut to crack, just to mix my metaphors. 😉 )

Now, believing that Atlantis currently exists, and is some kind of miraculous, magical underwater city... that seems a bit crazy to me, though I've met some people who seem to feel that way.

Silly me. I should have said The Tooth Fairy.

Although, the Futurama episode with Atlanta sinking into the ocean and evolution + the chemicals from the Coca-Cola plant created Mer-southerners was pretty good.

 

[Willis]

That's really good to know. I have a Powerbook that I bought back in the summer of 2004 and I don't have any plans on buying a new one soon. Well it's actually because I can't afford a new one right now. 😀

I wonder how you can tell when your Powerbook was made? Is there a way to tell?

http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

just enter your serial number!

 

[0010101]

I haven't ever read the words 'unhackable' or 'virus free' said by Apple, but I have heard MANY 'fanboys' make those claims.

Then Apple puts out 30 second commercials like this one that seem to suggest that the Mac is impervious to such things as viruses.

 

[Snowy_River]

I haven't ever read the words 'unhackable' or 'virus free' said by Apple, but I have heard MANY 'fanboys' make those claims.

Then Apple puts out 30 second commercials like this one that seem to suggest that the Mac is impervious to such things as viruses.

No... that's not what that commercial suggests. What it says is:

PC: Last year there were 114,000 known viruses for PCs

Mac: PCs, but not Macs.

This is a simple statement about the current state of things. And, it seems to me that there is nothing wrong with playing up this fact as a selling point. If others choose to misinterpret it, as you are, that is your problem. Just about anything you say it is possible to choose to misinterpret.

 

[hulugu]

I haven't ever read the words 'unhackable' or 'virus free' said by Apple, but I have heard MANY 'fanboys' make those claims.

Then Apple puts out 30 second commercials like this one that seem to suggest that the Mac is impervious to such things as viruses.

It 'suggests' that, in the sense that saying only 1 American has gotten polio in the last 40 years 'suggests' you won't get it either.

The commercial doesn't make any claim of invulnerability, it just points out the likelihood of getting a viruses on a PC and a virus on a Mac isn't even in the same area of risk.