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MacBook Air First To Be Compromised In Hacking Contest
Posted by
Soulskill
on Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:06 PM
from the potential-reality-tv-show dept.
from the potential-reality-tv-show dept.
Multiple readers have written to let us know that the MacBook Air was the first laptop to fall in the CanSecWest hacking contest. The successful hijacking took place only two minutes into the second day of the competition, after the rules had been relaxed to allow the visiting of websites and opening of emails. The TippingPoint blog reveals that the vulnerability was located within Safari, but they won't release specific details until Apple has had a chance to correct the problem. The winner, Charlie Miller, gets to keep the laptop and $10,000. We covered the contest last year, and the results were similar.
Related Stories
[+]
IT: MacBook Hacked In Contest Via Zero-Day Hole in Safari 156 comments
EMB Numbers writes "Shane Macaulay just won a MacBook as a prize for successfully hacking OS X at CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, BC. The hack was based on a Safari vulnerability found by Dai Zovi and written in about 9 hours. CanSecWest organizers actually had to relax the contest rules to make the hack possible, because initially nobody at the event could breach the computers under the original restrictions. 'Dai Zovi plans to apply for a $10,000 bug bounty TippingPoint announced on Thursday if a previously unknown Apple bug was used. "Shane can have the laptop, I want the money," Dai Zovi said in a telephone interview from New York. TippingPoint runs the Zero Day Initiative bug bounty program.'"
Submission: Macbook Air compromised in just 2 minutes by Anonymous Coward
[+]
IT: Last Year's CanSecWest Winner Repeats on Vista, Ubuntu Wins 337 comments
DimitryGH followed up on the earlier news that the MacBook Air lost CanSecWest by noting that "Last year's winner of the CanSecWest hacking contest has won the Vista laptop in this year's competition. According to the sponsor TippingPoint's blog, Shane Macaulay used a new 0day exploit against Adobe Flash in order to secure his win. At the end of the day, the only laptop (of OS X, Vista, and Ubuntu) that remained unharmed was the one running Ubuntu. How's that for fueling religious platform wars?"
[+]
IT: First Pwn2Own 2009 Contest Winners Emerge 98 comments
mellowdonkey writes "Last year's CanSecWest hacking contest winner, Charlie Miller, does it again this year in the 2009 Pwn2Own contest. Charlie was the first to compromise Safari this year to win a brand spankin new Macbook. Nils, the other winner, was able to use three separate zero day exploits to whack IE8, Firefox, and Safari as well. Full detail and pictures are available from the sponsor, TippingPoint, who acquired all of the exploits through their Zero Day Initiative program."
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MacBook Air First To Be Compromised In Hacking Contest
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0wnership (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Owning Beauty (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Owning Beauty (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Owning Beauty (Score:4, Insightful)
"apt-get update; apt-get upgrade;" on a Debian Stable works like a charm (because they push ONLY security and major bugfixes). I manage a farm of 30 servers for about 2 years and Debian update ALWAYS worked without any problem.
Parent
Re:Owning Beauty (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh sweet jesus... Apple owners... spinning a truly piss-poor performance into a plus.
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Re:Owning Beauty (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
do you hear that ? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:do you hear that ? (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Get the Facts is a better tag. (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Get the Facts is a better tag. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Dell is actually starting to not suck. (Score:5, Informative)
Even more surprising, the m1330 is really well supported in Ubuntu. (Dell actually sells the m1330 with Ubuntu pre-installed, although the discount is rather pathetic.) More things just work in a default install of Ubuntu on the m1330 than in Vista! (The only thing that doesn't work as well in Ubuntu as it does in Vista is the fingerprint reader, but that's just because biometric password support in Linux, and KDE especially, sucks dingo balls at present.) And yes, if I bought a macbook I probably would have tossed the OSX disks and reformated the drive first thing. I've had to develop under OSX and, while I don't mind it, I definitely prefer Ubuntu.
Caveat time. Dell's customization options are still royally borked. You can pick up a lot of accessories, like bluetooth mice, fairly cheap when buying a laptop, but other components are just insanely expensive. Anyone who maxes out the memory on a Dell while ordering it and then complains about the price is an idiot. Upgrading the memory on a Dell won't void the warranty. You want 4GB? Get 1GB from Dell and, toss it, and buy a couple 2GB sticks yourself. You'll save at least a couple hundred dollars. If Dell would smarten up about that kind of thing I'd have no complaints.
Still, one thing is pretty clear. You can no longer mindlessly slag Dell for epitomizing bland and crappy laptop designs. They do still have ultra-cheap crap and bland bricks built like tanks for the corporate types, but they're also gunning for the sexier end of the market now.
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Re:Get the Facts is a better tag. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Get the Facts is a better tag. (Score:5, Funny)
Get the facts... Up to the point where they support your agenda and then punt.
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I say well done. (Score:5, Insightful)
I haven't RTFA but from the surface it sounds like a fair exploit test, and sure it only fell over with user interaction, but it still fell first. So good on them, they'll enjoy their prize of a macbook air and a sweet $10k.
Parent
Alternate headline: Mac last hacked IRL (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't care if it's spyware, adware, a virus, a tray icon, or or even just a simple browser toolbar or homepage or search-engine hijacking; or if it's installed manually or via drive-by methods--whether its due to small market share, inherent (UNIX) security, or something else, I will continue to argue that Mac and Linux are the better platforms, IN PRACTICE, for the average user.
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Re:I think the relevant part is: (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, that sounds logical, if your genitals are hooked up to a car battery.
The winner got to keep the unit AND 10,000. So OBVIOUSLY they should crack the easiest unit, flip it on ebay, and then buy whatever they actually want, while pocketing the remaining 8-9 grand...
So... the moral of this story? Never underestimate the ability of an Apple fan to rationalize how the Mac could be the first to fail, yet still be the finest computer in the competition. d(^_~) [Thumbs up!]
I
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Re:I think the relevant part is: (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:I think the relevant part is: (Score:4, Funny)
No one is going to be interested in the fact that it required user-assistance and can't be executed remotely (which are by far the most worrisome.)
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Better headline (Score:5, Funny)
It's funny how they turned a huge hole in the Safari browser into a commercial for the Mac Air.
"Small size, big holes"
Re:Better headline (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Identical articles (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Identical articles (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Identical articles (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Identical articles (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Identical articles (Score:5, Informative)
All laptops will be open only for Remotely exploitable Pre-Auth vulnerabilities which require no user interaction. First one to pwn it, receives the laptop and a $20,000 cash prize.
The pwned machine(s) will be taken out of the contest at that time.
Day 2: March 27th: Default client-side apps
The attack surfaces increases to also include any default installed client-side applications which can be exploited by following a link through email, vendor supplied IM client or visiting a malicious website. First one to pwn it receives the laptop and a $10,000 cash prize.
The pwned machine(s) will be taken out of the contest at that time.
Day 3: March 28th: Third Party apps
Assuming the laptops are still standing, we will finally add some popular 3rd party client applications to the scope. That list will be made available at CanSecWest, and will be also posted here on the blog. First to pwn it receives the laptop and a $5,000 cash prize.
Parent
Re:Identical articles (Score:4, Insightful)
Hold on - are you saying that Mac's have a better reputation for security than linux?
Congratulations sir. Apple fanboy's capacity for self-delusion never ceases to amaze me.
Parent
Re:Identical articles (Score:5, Informative)
http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/blog/2008/03/27/day-two-of-cansecwest-pwn-to-own---we-have-our-first-official-winner-with-picture [tippingpoint.com]
Parent
Re:And, in this case, the attacker deliberately ch (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:linky, pleasey (Score:5, Informative)
Quote from the linkey
In IE7's Protected Mode--which is the default in other than the Trusted security zone--the IE process runs with Low rights, even if the logged-in user is an administrator. Since add-ins to IE such as ActiveX controls and toolbars run within the IE process, those add-ins run Low as well. The idea behind Protected Mode IE is that even if an attacker somehow defeated every defense mechanism and gained control of the IE process and got it to run some arbitrary code, that code would be severely limited in what it could do. Almost all of the file system and registry would be off-limits to it for writing, reducing the ability of an exploit to modify the system or harm user files. The code wouldn't have enough privileges to install software, put files in the user's Startup folder, hijack browser settings, or other nastiness.
In Protected Mode IE writes/reads special Low versions of the cache, TEMP folder, Cookies and History:
Cache: %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Low
Temp: %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Temp\Low
Cookies: %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\Low
History: %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\Low
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Re:browse one site (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:And, in this case, the attacker deliberately ch (Score:5, Informative)
Actually "su" stands for "switch user". You can just as easily sudo to _any_ user.
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Re:And, in this case, the attacker deliberately ch (Score:5, Informative)
What the parent was suggesting is to create an account with very limited access and to run the browser as that account using something like: `sudo -u sandboxaccount browserbin`.
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Re:Identical articles (Score:4, Funny)
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Ouch, that didn't take long. (Score:3, Insightful)
Users == the problem (Score:4, Insightful)
Good to see that social engineering is still all it requires to compromise something.
Re:Users == the problem (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Users == the problem (Score:4, Insightful)
That said, ubuntu (and linux in general) are heading that way too, just not quite with the same fevered pitch.
It's the same basic premise that windows was based on: The user is in control. OSX and linux both have fairly strong boundaries between admin and user, but things are slowly wearing down, in the name of convenience. The difference being that things started out far more secure, and there's a bit more separation at the display itself, whereas win9x was not designed with this security in mind, and while NT was, it also inherited parts from win9x's shell and there were compromises at the display, etc.
Microsoft gets this now though. SQL Server's a great example of that. Hundreds of thousands of man-hours have gone into making that thing far more secure than the slammer days, just compare critical vulnerability counts from SQL-server to Oracle. Microsoft's biggest curse is legacy code now, plus a fair amount of ongoing training, and they will only shrink with time. This is mainly shifting market pressure, of course, it costs money to have negative press regarding security nowadays. It didn't in the past, and it will only increasingly have negative press for the next couple of decades at least. It's surprising that Oracle is now doing what Microsoft used to do: treat security as a marketing buzz word (Unbreakable on linux took how long to break?)
But who knows how many holes were in the old X11R6. But you didn't run that on servers, for a good reason. Guess what, there are probably lots of applications that don't handle the Windows messaging system securely and buffer-over/underrun free either.
These days, things like IE operate in Limited user mode. This goes even further than ordinary users (far more than a "power" user, and lightyears away from Administrator or SYSTEM). It's restricted to \users\%USER%\AppData\LocalLow\ and one or two other locations, and that's it (Favorites spring to mind. It gets to be a pain if those accidentally wind up back with normal ACLs, as I mentioned here [mycronite.net].)
So you need to work harder to break out of internet explorer, and IIRC, it takes permission from a privileged application to do it. Outlook's probably a juicier target, but it's been subject to the fabled crucible for a long long time, so again, it's harder.
OSX hasn't been subject to it for long at all. Safari's new. *Really* new, and you know what, it wasn't even webkit that broke, but the url bar (if memory of the bugtraq post serves.) Where did webkit come from? Oooh. that's right. KDE.
We're all in for it if apple really do gain significant market share (we being administrators, not we being "the general populace"). It may or may not be as big a problem as windows has been, but I'm willing to bet that the effects will be as dire, and apple doesn't really have a fantastic track record here, as other articles have pointed out. The momentum of not having security as a primary goal is one that takes a *long* time to turn around.
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Keep the laptop (Score:4, Funny)
You mean like when your airplane flight is cancelled and the airline offers you a free ticket. Or when the food at a restaurant is crappy and they give you a coupon to eat there again.
Re:Keep the laptop (Score:5, Insightful)
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Hack a Mac, Get More Publicity (Score:1, Troll)
And in other news..... (Score:1, Troll)
Sorry it's worth the troll mod. Come on guys the Mac/Apple bashing articles are really getting silly. You might as well add it to the Slashdot logo, "We Love Microsoft and Hate All Things Apple." Honestly look at the numbers of articles pro and against each product line. Then check the postings. Say something pro Mac and you'll get shot down. Say something pointing out issues with PCs and you'll get Trolled. Yes go ahead and troll me but you're just killing the messenger and looking petty doing it.
Re:And in other news..... (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:And in other news..... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:And in other news..... (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:And in other news..... (Score:4, Insightful)
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Maybe it's major, or maybe no big deal (Score:5, Insightful)
So if the Mac was tagged by just loading a page that delivered the hack, that's bad. Quite bad. If he had to click and download something (and perhaps defeat the auto-quarantine they use), that's not so much a big deal, though still a hole that needs patching.
One of the things about vulnerabilities on all platforms is that a significant part of the magnitude depends on how difficult it is to exploit. Remote connections to a system that avoid/defeat a firewall are really dangerous. Attacks that require the user to do something stupid are inevitable, but far less dangerous.
Thus far most of the Mac vulnerabilities have been the second type. Luckily.
Day 2 results (Score:5, Informative)
http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/blog/2008/03/27/day-two-of-cansecwest-pwn-to-own---we-have-our-first-official-winner-with-picture [tippingpoint.com]
Safari holed, so Apple pushes it to Windows ;) (Score:3, Funny)
Or am I being a conspiracy nut?
maybe its not important at all... (Score:1)
Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
I would rather have Apple "shamed" into providing me (and other OS X users) a more secure web browser/operating system than gain some pathetic "my system is more secure than yours" bragging rights.
Can't wait to find out what and how (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no way any system can be perfectly secure, but this is a significant hole. While they probably won't get me to click that stupid link, they might get my mom or any number of the other avg everyday users.
At least now we can get beyond the macs can't be hacked BS and move on to securing my favorite OS and keeping it that way.
Now lets see how long it takes for apple to post a patch, that is really where the rubber meets the road.
I don't get it (Score:5, Insightful)
Can't we admit that, for whatever reason, the Air/Safari was easier hacked than Vista/IE7? I know this is an unpopular bandwagon to be on, especially on Slashdot, but it seems there's no two ways about it. I refuse to believe that it was a conspiracy and that every hacker was actually just trying to hack the Air and make Ubuntu and Vista pass, that's stupid. If I were a hacker, I'd totally hack the EASIEST one simply to get the $10k and the laptop. And if there were known or open vulnerabilities, it should have fallen in what, 30 seconds?
Seriously, it's not a huge deal. If we, like good open source cronies, admit that there was a problem with *gasp* part of the Apple software/laptop combo (whether it was Safari or the OS or whatever), then maybe it will be fixed. Isn't that the main idea here? I thought the point of these things were to discover vulnerabilities so that they could be fixed, not to place bets on Microsoft falling and go up in arms if it doesn't.
Unless, of course, we really aren't interested in open source software or good software at all, but are more about claiming a company name as our own.
Tags? (Score:3, Interesting)
Just sayin...
A real hero (Score:5, Interesting)
In other words this guy most likely found a security bug in Safari, but instead of reporting it directly, made an exploit and waited for a hacking contest to get a monetary benefit out of it. A real hero. Or maybe he was just quick. Which seems more plausible?
Minor correction (Score:2)
It's CanSecWest, not CamSecWest. Or is that country now called Camada? I guess, there, everyone is a Camedian...
Maybe Apple will get serious about security now (Score:4, Insightful)
Just as long as they don't implement some Vista like "Allow or Deny?" crap... God that would drive me *nuts*!
Reality will disappoint morons. (Score:3, Insightful)
CanSecWest and Swiss Federal Institute of Tech Deliver Attacks on the Reality of Mac Security [roughlydrafted.com]
Who would want a Vista notebook? (Score:1, Redundant)
Why would the hackers waste time trying to hack into a Vista notebook if the prize were to win that notebook? Now, if the prize had been a Macbook Air, even if the hackers owned the Vista notebook, then the outcome would surely be different.
Bottom line: no one wants Vista, not even hackers.
Not enough mod points in the world.... (Score:2)
Ho-hum (Score:3, Insightful)
The perceived general level of security in a system can be directly correlated to the most recent compromise of that system. The fact that the Linux and Windows systems involved in this contest have not yet been compromised does not indicate that they are more or less secure in a general sense than the Mac. It does indicate that no one has found the vulnerability that inevitably lurks within the kernal or a piece of installed software on those system. But rest assured, the exploits are there.
"FireFox is more secure than IE", you say on Monday. Then Slashdot posts "HUGE FRIGGING HOLE FOUND IN FIREFOX: DOOM!!!" on Tuesday. And suddenly the absolute statement you've made sounds silly.
If you don't believe this is true, try this: get hold of a system exactly like the ones currently considered "unhackable" in the contest and disable any automatic updates (and don't install any manually). Wait three months and then compare that system against one with the most recent updates. You're sure to find that your unhackable system is now full of known exploits and security holes.
The systems we rely on today are very complex and in a very real sense cannot be completely understood. There are techniques that can make them generally more secure and all of the OS developers are working to bring these features online every day. Some are better than this than others (or so it seems), but they all do it. Even Microsoft. But the thing about security is this: the bad guys only need one hole and the good guys have to cover all the bases.
The only real security in a system comes from user practices, not software. If you don't install updates on your system, it will be vulnerable. If you don't consider HOW and where you use your system, it will be vulnerable. In other words, the core component in a secure system is YOU.
It's probably true that there is a "most" secure OS and a "least" secure OS right at this moment. Take a guess which is which and you might even be correct. But there's no absolute answer that will be true tomorrow. We need to stop with the absolutes and "MY FLAVA ROCKS YER FLAVA" hyperbole and start to think more like real security experts do. The next big hack for your favorite OS is just around the corner. And there's no doubt about that.
Good! (Score:1)
How long was the exploit actually known? (Score:1)
I am curious: how long the exploit discoverer keep his discovery a secret in order to enter it in the contest? Several weeks? A few months?
I'm also curious whether Safari for Windows suffers from the same exploit. Would Vista also fall inside of the same two minutes?
At one time Microsoft, made a big deal of having its browser seamlessly integrated with the rest of Windows. Now after they've suffered from years of countless exploits, they have gone to great lengths to constrain unexpected access to the OS from the browser.
I think Apple will continue to improve its development techniques to preempt exploits, and to fix 'em when they appear on Apple's radar. There are corporate interests out there that are extremely cautious about bringing Macs officially into their business environment because they think Mac OS X doesn't appear to have enough active defenses.
New Ad.. (Score:1)
M: Hey there! I am a Mac! How are you today!
P: I'm a PC.
M: How are you PC! Why are you looking all stuffy and bored. Look at my shiny toys and wonderful application! You need to lighten up a little heh. ^_^
P:
2nd Day ->
P: Hi.
Patched? (Score:1)
If they were connected to the net or had an ISO down loaded for OS installation I would say yes they were updated. If they were all updated then yes this is something that needs to be addressed as soon as possible...
I do not find it hard to believe that an Unbutu box is still standing and I am rather disappointed if the Mac really did get owned. But I have a damn hard time believing that a Windows box is still standing... unless something else was done to it to make it more hardened.
too soon for vista (Score:2)
on the plus side, this means that vista at the moment is the only version of windows hackers aren't ready to crack with just a url or an e-mail(using only the default software on vista).
if they had had an xp machine, it would have gotten cracked most likely on the first day (when they could only use network attacks)
Previous versions (Score:1)
Now Apple should employ Charlie Miller, and then do an update a week or so before the competition next year.
A more informative competition would be to add an extra day which would allow the same conditions as Day 1 but any base install over the previous year (that was around for more than 2 weeks or something). So Macs could be attacked with 10.5.0 installed, and Windows with non-XP1.
It would be more significant for an attack to succeed on Day 1 conditions for a system that was around for over 1 year than to succeed only on Day 2 or 3 for a system that has just come out.
Re:I think this section is relevant (Score:1)
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Re:I think this section is relevant (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:I think this section is relevant (Score:3, Insightful)
But as a mac user
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Re:I wouldn't be surprised.. (Score:2)
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Re:well, tFriendlyA does mention (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:right (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:right (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:right (Score:4, Informative)
It's not a guarantee that the first to fail is the weakest, there's definite elements of chance and some complex interactions. But it was done with Safari, which is part of the default distribution of a Mac and it's not exactly easy to not use Safari for at least long enough to download Firefox.
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Re:right (Score:1, Offtopic)
Am surprised that Mac OS X didn't prompt the user for root password at all.
If it had and the user had typed it in to invoke the crack, then it is no crack at all.
But in this case Mac seems to be running like XP, which is terrifying.
XP grew up in a bad neighborhood with lots of people hacking into your home and kicking you. So you grew up to disproportionate sizes to counter the bullies and also put in rudimentary plyboards to prevent them from coming in.
Also you started building a fort around yourself (Vista) so that others can be seen swimming towards your fort and sunk.
All in all, XP's rapid "growing up" and the fact that it has become robust over years shows the brutal world out there in wild.
Mac has been living the sheltered life like the Lion in the Zoo in Madagascar.
Safari was its first brutal exposure to the bad world and its quick exploit by XP hackers proved to be as much of a shock to Apple as it did to Mac Fanboys(who could not dispute or ridicule like the republicans do their opponents).
Now, the hurd has taken the battle to Apple's camp and cracked its Mac OS X through Safari.
One perverse way Microsoft must be celebrating that their default install of XP or Vista did not crack so easily.
Probably Apple needs some Microsoft lessons. But then apple has always sued hackers or jailed them, unlike Microsoft which has an uneasy peace with them.
Bottomline: Microsoft has been slowly improving default security and is kinda crackproof.
Mac still believes all users are angels and its hallelujah crowd will defend its glory.
Apple is in for a rude surprise when it enters the wild world of Windows.
Welcome to Earth!
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Re:Inquiring minds... (Score:1)
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Re:I wouldn't be surprised.. (Score:2)
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Re:I wouldn't be surprised.. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:right (Score:3, Informative)
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Re:I think this section is relevant (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow, at +4 already for just quoting the summary and tossing in a vague and meaningless sentence.
So anyway, what exactly is it saying? The only thing I see there is that a completely passive attack (that is, absolutely no user interaction, like many well-known worms worked) failed. Once this part of the test was passed they allowed interactive attacks (where the user must assist the attacker in some way). Since this is how nearly all malware and malicious software spreads these days, I don't see anything wrong with this. Aside from just attaching hardware to the network, a web browser and email client are the two applications with the most Internet "surface area". As all major operating systems come bundled with a primary browser (IE, Safari, Firefox) a flaw in the browser essentially amounts to a flaw in the OS. It seems natural and obvious to put them to the test.
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Re:Contest rules... (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:misleading (Score:3, Insightful)
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Re:I think this section is relevant (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah. A Laptop is safe, even connected to a network, provided you make no contact with the network as the user.
Like my car - very very safe as long as you don't back it out of the garage.
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Re:It Might Have Been Harder if... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Inquiring minds... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Inquiring minds... (Score:2)
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Re:Air? (Score:1)
You seem to forget that the Apple people survive on diets of Starbucks Skinny Lattes and Skinny Blueberry muffins and have spent so much on their MBAs that they can only afford a maximum of one each per day as they sit in an appropriately placed chair such that everyone who walks into the store gets the reflective glint of the Apple logo directly in their eyes as they walk in.
Ultimately, this miniscule diet, along with sitting about and posing all day without any form of exercise, results in extreme muscle wastage eventually making it impossible for the Mac user to even attempt to try and carry something as big as a Dell XPS.
As it happens, this is part of Apple's own marketing strategy because as muscle wastage continues, even the MBA becomes too heavy so the unfortunate MAC owner then needs to buy something even lighter in order to continue to enjoy its computing experience - thus the way is paved for an even lighter machine to be released.
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Re:I wouldn't be surprised.. (Score:2)
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Re:Maybe, just maybe... (Score:1)
Do you people really have that much difficulty in visualing the possibility that other people out here have absolutely no interest in the colour, shape or logo on a device but prefer to buy something based upon how well it is built, how well it meets our needs and its price?
I personally have absolutely no need for status symbols. I am quite confident that when people meet me, they will make up their own minds about me based on how I talk to them and my general bearing and if they do need to see some kind of status symbol to make a judgement about me, then they're probably such shallow minded individuals that I have no interest in knowing them either.
If you personally feel that you need to display some kind of corporate logo to get on in life, then that can only mean you have personality failings elsewhere due to a lack of confidence in yourself in being able to win people over purely by who you are.
Yes, I own a mass-produced Dell laptop that runs Linux and XP that works perfectly fine and does all I need it to. And by all means, if you see me using it in a public place then come sit near me and get your jollies by sneering down at me for not being a corporate whore - I won't notice a damn thing because I'll be too busy working on something that is actually important in my life.
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