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Apple the new world leader in software insecurity

arstechnica.com

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Re: Apple the new world leader in software insecurity

#2

Post by NathanKP »

It is fortunate that Apple still has a small enough market share that they aren't being attacked as vigorously as Windows is. For now I still feel like my Mac is safer from viruses than the average Windows machine, but that security is definitely shaky if Apple gets a larger market share and starts attracting real attention from viruses and hackers.

Re: Apple the new world leader in software insecurity

#5

Post by kaiuhl »

Their report only analyzes the criticality of Windows-based exploits, and leaves Oracle and Apple bugs' severity undefined.

I can't find anywhere on Secunia's website that they make a big deal out of this though, so I'm going to chock it up to Arstechnica being sensationalist.

Re: Apple the new world leader in software insecurity

#6

Post by NathanKP »

antidaily wrote: post #3

Many of Apple's flaws are not in its operating system, Mac OS X, but rather in software like Safari, QuickTime, and iTunes.

Hence the title of the article says "software" insecurity. Problems with security of the OS and problems with security of the software running on the OS both have the same end effect: they make the system vulnerable.

Re: Apple the new world leader in software insecurity

#7

Post by DuoSRX »

The actual report (http://secunia.com/gfx/pdf/Secunia_Half_Year_Report_2010.pdf) is only about Windows computers. So it's about iTunes, Safari ... for Windows, not Mac OSX.

"In the first part of the report we look at the global picture covering all vulnerabilities in all products, followed by the analysis of vulnerabilities affecting the products and the operating system found on typical end-users PCs."

Re: Apple the new world leader in software insecurity

#9

Post by b_emery »

NathanKP wrote: post #2

It is fortunate that Apple still has a small enough market share that they aren't being attacked as vigorously as Windows is. For now I still feel like my Mac is safer from viruses than the average Windows machine, but that security is definitely shaky if Apple gets a larger market share and starts attracting real attention from viruses and hackers.

I hear this enough to wonder if it's a myth. Mac OS is built on Unix, so how does the total Unix+Linux+Mac market share look? Probably big enough to justify attacking. I suspect but can't prove that Unix is inherently more secure than Windows (or more easily secured).

I've actually had a Mac compromised before after being lazy about the password setup. I suspect it difficult for the botnets to get traction, but they're certainly trying.

Re: Apple the new world leader in software insecurity

#10

Post by Tamerlin »

b_emery wrote: post #9
NathanKP wrote: post #2

It is fortunate that Apple still has a small enough market share that they aren't being attacked as vigorously as Windows is. For now I still feel like my Mac is safer from viruses than the average Windows machine, but that security is definitely shaky if Apple gets a larger market share and starts attracting real attention from viruses and hackers.

I hear this enough to wonder if it's a myth. Mac OS is built on Unix, so how does the total Unix+Linux+Mac market share look? Probably big enough to justify attacking. I suspect but can't prove that Unix is inherently more secure than Windows (or more easily secured). I've actually had a Mac compromised before after being lazy about the password setup. I suspect it difficult for the botnets to get traction, but they'…

It's not actually a myth. There aren't very many UNIX-based operating systems in the hands of the average user, who is the prime target, since the users are the biggest vulnerability in any system.

UNIX isn't inherently secure to begin with, in fact initially security for UNIX was an afterthought. It wasn't until it started gaining widespread use that the UNIX developers started taking security seriously. I went through the transition from having encrypted passwords in the /etc/passwords file, which everyone could read (or no one could log in) to /etc/shadow as security started becoming important.

That said, there was a virus around 8 years ago that specifically targeted a bunch of NCSA UNIX machines, and they ended up getting caught with their pants down -- there WAS a fix already available that would have blocked the virus, but the NCSA admins hadn't been diligent about installing it.

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