Search: Home Bugtraq Vulnerabilities Mailing Lists Jobs Tools Beta Programs
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure?
Daniel Hanson, 2004-07-21

Apple's OS X is not safer or less susceptible to vulnerabilities and viruses than other OSes, and Apple's secretive culture is bad for the security world.

Comments Mode:
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (3 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Anonymous (2 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-24
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-25
Anonymous (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-29
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (2 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (3 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Anonymous
With no open ports, who needs a firewall? 2004-07-23
Anonymous (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-24
jammer-b
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Kev (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (3 replies)

A1 - forget time here. with popularity and useability constraints in getting to the lower portions of the system are what is currently restricting many potential discoveries; while there may be few, its unlikely there are none. Man hours wise, MS software probably recieves more than a billion times more hours than OSX on a daily basis.

A2 Part 1 - It is not possible to immediately "investigate" a system and rate it as secure. This is the nature of security, and is a product of systems complexity.

A2 Part 2 - Most other OS's recieve security information from both the user and developer sides of the community. It has become clear from the BSD platforms that Open Source software can be better than closed source software in the security world, as with more developers reading the code, more errors are spotted more often. Like MS, Apple loose out on this luxury.

A3 - At very least the current versions being sold.

It's okay to ask someone to be better than all the rest. But don't blame them for being just like the rest, when their experience-to-date doesn't require that they be any better.
-This statement contradicts itself. You are trying to suggest that Apple are better, and yet you say it is acceptable for them not to be better as experience says that they dont have to be? Not understood.

[ reply ]

Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/256/27598#27598
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Kev (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-28
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Eric Aitala
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Daniel Hanson
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Scrutiny
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Peter (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Dbl07
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-26
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Chris (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (2 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (3 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
PecosBill
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Chris (3 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Phillip J. (MacPhilly)
Chris is making me tingly! 2004-07-23
Doug T.
*Yawn* 2004-07-22
Steve (2 replies)
*Yawn* at *Yawn* 2004-07-22
Chris (1 replies)
*Yawn* at *Yawn* 2004-07-22
PecosBill
*Yawn* 2004-07-23
Anonymous (1 replies)
*Yawn* 2004-07-23
Anonymous (2 replies)
*Yawn* 2004-07-24
Anonymous
*Yawn* 2004-07-26
Big Mac
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Dan P (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Phillip J. (MacPhilly) (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-26
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
PecosBill
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
chris holland
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (2 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Daniel Hanson (9 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Chris Holland
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
chris holland
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Anonymous (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-26
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Anonymous
Tech. Points Not Researched? 2004-07-23
Doug T.
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Jeff Brown
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Anonymous
Mac viruses vs. Windows viruses 2004-07-23
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous (1 replies)
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-22
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-23
Anonymous
On Apple Culture 2004-07-23
Steve (1 replies)
On Apple Culture 2004-07-24
Anonymous
Research? 2004-07-24
jammer-b
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure- Yes 2004-07-27
John G (1 replies)
What can we learn from the comments? 2004-07-27
Anonymous (1 replies)
Some comments... 2004-07-28
Aaron
FUD 2004-07-28
Anonymous
Mac OS X ? Unix? Secure? 2004-07-30
Shirkdog
Comments 2004-07-31
Anonymous (1 replies)
Re: Comments 2006-05-16
Not so anonymous







 

Privacy Statement
Copyright 2009, SecurityFocus