Recently there has been a growth industry in pundits whining about the security of the Apple Mac OS X operating system. To read some of the coverage, you would think someone deciding to use OS X instead of Windows would have to be dumber than a fence post. Methinks the security worries are rather misplaced and may be the result of hyperventilating, nontechnical reporters and some gloating on the part of Windows users.
Secunia said there are potential vulnerabilities in the Mac OS X operating system, first noticed by Tom Ferris.
The firm described the holes as ‘highly critical’, meaning that systems could be compromised if crooks dive in. Secunia said the potential holes are in version 10.4.6, but other versions might be
affected too.
As an aside, the updated security details for the three main OS are:
At least six zero-day vulnerabilities in Apple Computer Inc.’s Mac OS X were disclosed earlier this week by an independent researcher, who noted that all can crash applications or the operating system, and some may let attackers hijack systems.
Convergence has come to the software world. Last week Apple pulled a feature planned for inclusion in the next generation of Mac OS X (code-named Leopard) and offered it up to the public like an early Christmas present. Boot Camp is a free software download that allows your Intel-based Mac to dual-boot into both Mac OS X 10.4.6 and Windows XP SP2 (and there are early reports that some have installed Linux, as well).
Users installing Windows XP on Intel-based Macs face some special security issues, a security expert said Thursday.
By applying Apple Computer’s just-released Boot Camp, Mac owners can now create a dual-boot system that runs either Mac OS X or Windows XP. It’s the latter that worries Ken Dunham, the director of the rapid response team at security intelligence firm iDefense.
Apple today introduced Boot Camp, public beta software that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP. Available as a download beginning today, Boot Camp allows users with a Microsoft Windows XP installation disc to install Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac, and once installation is complete, users can restart their computer to run either Mac OS X or Windows XP. Boot Camp will be a feature in “Leopard,” Apple’s next major release of Mac OS X, that will be previewed at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in August.
Apple today released Security Update 2006-002 v1.1 which “improves security and reliability and is recommended for all users.” Security Update 2006-002 v1.1’s notes describe the same updated components as Security Update 2006-002: apache_mod_php, CoreTypes, LaunchServices, Mail, rsync, and Safari, but is now version 1.1. Additional information is not yet available and the update is not yet available via Software Update.
From the article
update Apple Computer released an update Thursday to its latest patch, a move designed to address installation problems with a fix released earlier in the week.
After installing Apple’s original Security Update 2006-002, people may find that Safari has a blank icon that won’t launch the Web browser, the Mac maker said in an article on its support Web site. The problem occurs if the user moved Safari out of the applications folder before installing the update, the company said in the article.
From the article:
There has been a lot of talk in the press recently about how secure Mac OS X really is and how much Mac users have to be concerned about security. While Apple said they are very serious about security concerns, Mac users, for the most part, have been unaffected.
From the article:
Apple Computer on Monday released the second set of Mac OS X security fixes in two weeks.
Security Update 2006-002 corrects problems caused by the company’s previous patch and fixes newly discovered security flaws, some of which could let an attacker run code on a computer with the same privileges as the user, the company said on its Web site.
