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From: Conor on 19 Apr 2010 04:42 On 19/04/2010 09:42, Jim wrote: > On 2010-04-19, Conor<conor(a)gmx.co.uk> wrote: >> There are millions of Macs connected to broadband out there, >>> owned by people who, for the most part, have no idea of security. >>> Compromise even a small percentage of them and you'd have a pretty big >>> botnet. >>> >>> Oddly though, that doesn't seem to have happened. >>> >>> Why is that? >>> >> Because it has: >> >> http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=692575 > > That didn't result in a compromised Mac. Only because the malware author chose not to. You can do a lot in a terminal session. Although I agree it's interesting > that a web browser can open apps and that _could_ possibly be used as a > vector. > > It just doesn't seem to have been yet. > > Oh, I've just looked - that article is a year old. I wouldn't be surprised > to find that particular hole has been patched. > I would. -- Conor I'm not prejudiced. I hate everyone equally.
From: Jim on 19 Apr 2010 04:45 On 2010-04-19, R <me32(a)privacy.net> wrote: > Jim <jim(a)magrathea.plus.com> wrote: > >> So ok then, _you_ tell _us_ why Mac OS X isn't the target of any malware >> at the moment? And please don't say 'market share' because that's >> horeshit. There are millions of Macs connected to broadband out there, >> owned by people who, for the most part, have no idea of security. > > It's an interesting question for which I haven't seen an adequate > answer. As you say, the market share ought to be enough. It's enough > for people to develop software for OS X, for example. Why would it > not be enough for malware authors to make a profit? And I don't think > OS X is more secure than Windows. Bear in mind that a lot of malware > doesn't need root access to do its nasty work. A keylogger, for > example, could get in via a Firefox security hole and run using the > privileges of an ordinary user. Further, I don't think we can > attribute the lack of attacks on OS X to people liking the operating > system. Malware authors are unscrupulous types driven by the profit > motive. What they care about is the money. So that's that reason out > of the window, too. > > Here's my highly speculative theory. Most malware is developed in the > parts of the world where Macs are very rarely used. Places like > Russia, (the) Ukraine, and China. To write malware requires extensive > knowledge of the system you are attacking - the sort of knowledge > that can't be acquired through occasional use. Moreover, most hackers > tend to be fairly young. So they're going to attack the software they > know the most about, and that will be the software they grew up > using. That software will mainly be, in those countries, Windows. I personally thnk it's the 'two men running away from a lion' situation. You don't have to run faster than the lion, you just have to run faster than the other guy. In other words, although Mac OS X is in no way immune, it's still harder than Windows. If nothing else there's a _huge_ amount of info out there on compromising Windows. Jim -- Twitter:@GreyAreaUK "[The MP4-12C] will be fitted with all manner of pointlessly shiny buttons that light up and a switch that says 'sport mode' that isn't connected to anything." The Daily Mash.
From: Jaimie Vandenbergh on 19 Apr 2010 04:53 On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:45:46 +0100, Jim <jim(a)magrathea.plus.com> wrote: >On 2010-04-19, R <me32(a)privacy.net> wrote: >> Here's my highly speculative theory. Most malware is developed in the >> parts of the world where Macs are very rarely used. Places like >> Russia, (the) Ukraine, and China. To write malware requires extensive >> knowledge of the system you are attacking - the sort of knowledge >> that can't be acquired through occasional use. Moreover, most hackers >> tend to be fairly young. So they're going to attack the software they >> know the most about, and that will be the software they grew up >> using. That software will mainly be, in those countries, Windows. With the ease that one can now construct a Hackintosh (and have been able to for the last two years or so) I'm still surprised. >I personally thnk it's the 'two men running away from a lion' situation. You >don't have to run faster than the lion, you just have to run faster than the >other guy. There's probably a lot of truth in this too. Cheers - Jaimie -- "I went to a planet where the dominant lifeform had no bilateral symmetry, and all I got was this stupid F-Shirt." -- Eric Pivnik
From: R on 19 Apr 2010 04:57 Jim <jim(a)magrathea.plus.com> wrote: > I personally thnk it's the 'two men running away from a lion' situation. You > don't have to run faster than the lion, you just have to run faster than the > other guy. I like the analogy :)
From: Conor on 19 Apr 2010 05:30
On 19/04/2010 10:21, Woody wrote: > Would love to join in, but I am not allowed to play with trolls There is no trolling. -- Conor I'm not prejudiced. I hate everyone equally. |