- Don't worry the local Apple cult cell leader will be here shortly to claim it is all old news and not important - a proven to be no big deal issue.
Posted on 08/10/2015 2:23:13 AM PDT by Leaning Right
Apple’s vaunted reputation for safety and security has taken some hits recently. Just this week came news of DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE — a bug in Apple’s OS X operating system that has allowed a malicious program to take complete control of Macs.
*snip*
When it comes to security flaws, Windows and OS X are now about tied, says Morey Haber, VP of technology at corporate security software maker BeyondTrust.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Does microsoft still parse audio and video in the kernel?
Sorry Windows, I consider a MAC not must an run of the mill PC.
Linux.
I will say this: ask that question to anyone who had had their computer infected by one of those nasty ransomware viruses.
I have been using a Mac since 1987 at home and a PC at work, and the Unprotected Mac has never been infected, but my PC, behind a firewall, running antivirus updated daily, has had to be scrubbed multiple times, even though I am far, FAR more cautious on the PC. I will say, I haven’t got one yet on Windows 7, so they are getting better.
This isn’t badmouthing my PC, which I have grown over the years to appreciate. It is just a statement of fact.
Audio output requires a driver to interact with the hardware device which requires a DLL which is a kernel-mode operation.
Video requires output to a monitor which is also a hardware device that requires a DLL which is a kernel-mode operation.
Since Windows Vista, kernel-mode operations are protected from direct access except through API calls which must be signed. Microsoft provides out-of-the-box drivers for a large contingent of audio and video devices. If you install audio or video drivers from a third party, you are modifying the access controls to those devices through an administrative function, hence the reason you get a UAC pop-up when installing the driver software. As such, you are modifying the machine from its base install.
I’m front-ending your insinuation here, because, by nature, any operating system has to interact with hardware through a driver which involves kernel-mode application access. What’s your point?
There are dozens of write-ups on how to protect yourself from a ransomware attack. Further, if you don't have backups of your personal data in the event of an attack, you're setting yourself up for failure. Ransomware is meant to attack the unprepared and the unwitting. Don't open crap you get in email, you're 90% of the way to full security.
This one? (A Windows server running IIS)
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Or this one? (A Linux server running Apache)
It is true. There are lots of ways to protect yourself. Everyone in IT rolls their eyes at people who open things they shouldn’t, but I was using it as an example.
LOL, everyone is “unwitting” when something with an unexpected vector comes along that nobody has seen comes along...
I have the same Mac since 2011. No problems.
I know about driver signing and having user mode drivers (also signed) will help as well. What I am talking about is kernel mode code like win32k.sys. Also kernel driver signing does not guarantee no exploitable bugs, it just means you know who the author is. Unix and MacOS do not have parsing and rendering code in the kernel. Users tend to see a little slower performance on the same hardware. But that is for a good reason: user oriented code should all be run in user land not in the kernel.
Fair enough. But Apple has the unique position of being able to write their code specifically to their hardware since they manage both. Microsoft has the distinction of being platform agnostic for the most part, and that’s changing; but that’s the cost of being the largest OS developer in the world.
By the way, those are diagrams of system calls...
I thought BSD was the must secure Operating System.
You are correct, a mac is not a run of the mill PC...it is 3 or 4 times the price! Price does not make it better, by the way.
The MAC O/S is more secure. Better is weighing all factors. I still use Windows but I build my own machines.
A Mac is a PC ever since Apple went to OSX over a decade ago.
In fact, a Mac can run Windows 10 natively...because it is a PC.
I have never gotten a virus on my windows machine...been running them since winNT. At least not one that I ever observed/found.
My mom on the other hand trusts everything she clicks on and even with AV installed she can manage to get something bad. That’s the problem with windows being the largest target. Same issue is hitting Android phones...the largest target has the most people attacking you and there are not to smart PC users out there that will fall for even the most simple tricks.
In cases like this I have to admit security be obscurity does work. If my mom was running a custom OS that I created even if it had a ton of security holes in it...she would be relatively safe because the malware and virus out there wouldn’t work on her machine. But if someone targeted her directly she’d be in trouble.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
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