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Massive Mac OS X Update Shatters Illusion of Security
PC World ^ | 11/11/10 | Tony Bradley

Posted on 11/11/2010 7:57:51 PM PST by TomServo

Perhaps you've heard that the Apple Mac OS X operating system is simply more secure by design and not prone to the security flaws and vulnerabilities that plague the dominant Microsoft Windows operating system? Well, don't believe the hype. Apple unleashed an update for Mac OS X this week which fixes a massive 134 vulnerabilities.

(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS:
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1 posted on 11/11/2010 7:57:55 PM PST by TomServo
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To: PugetSoundSoldier; driftdiver

Ping!


2 posted on 11/11/2010 7:59:37 PM PST by TomServo
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To: TomServo

All 134 of which... I haven’t noticed.


3 posted on 11/11/2010 7:59:49 PM PST by rwilson99
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To: rwilson99

Me either. Mac FTW.


4 posted on 11/11/2010 8:02:52 PM PST by Feline_AIDS (A gun in hand is better than a cop on the phone.)
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To: rwilson99

Exactly. Windows trolls who keep banging on OS X hoping to find something wrong with it are too full of themselves to know any better. Anyone that still uses windows for any serious work is just ignorant (office environments will be forgiven for now).


5 posted on 11/11/2010 8:04:34 PM PST by lefty-lie-spy (Stay metal. For the Horde \m/("_")\m/ - via iPhone from Tokyo.)
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To: TomServo; Swordmaker

Did Microsoft write this?


6 posted on 11/11/2010 8:04:50 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
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To: TomServo

Interesting.
I wonder how many of those vulnerabilities were due to the choice of [programming] language either in the current implementation or in ‘translating’ sourcecode/OS from one to another (that is, the *nix from which it draws on).


7 posted on 11/11/2010 8:05:32 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: TomServo

Never! Macs are invulnerable! ;)


8 posted on 11/11/2010 8:06:29 PM PST by allmost
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To: lefty-lie-spy
Windows trolls who keep banging on OS X hoping to find something wrong with it

Well... Windoze users/trolls would be the most experienced ones with problems and fairly qualified in my book to know one when they see it. I mean after all they deal with them day in and day out...

9 posted on 11/11/2010 8:07:03 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
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To: lefty-lie-spy

>Exactly. Windows trolls who keep banging on OS X hoping to find something wrong with it are too full of themselves to know any better.

Actually I think a *lot* if the windows vulnerabilities are due directly to the language the OS was written in: C/C++.
For example: Virtually *ALL* of the ‘buffer overflow’ errors are due to C’s [in]ability to verify an array index.


10 posted on 11/11/2010 8:09:21 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: TomServo
This revelation supports Apple's crusade against Adobe Flash--based largely on security related issues.

Yes. People love to bitch about insecure Microsoft software, when does Adobe get its fair share of the blame?

11 posted on 11/11/2010 8:10:29 PM PST by TChad
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To: TChad
You bring up an interesting point not many people realize. A fairly high percentage of the vulnerabilities associated with a system come not from the OS, but from the applications that run on it.

That is why I don't understand MS integrating IE so tightly with the OS. Sheesh, take your most vulnerable, network-facing program, and let it reach into the OS? {shudder}

This is why OS/X and Linux have a fundamental advantage - they do a much better job of walling off applications and restricting what they can/cannot do. Also, on Linux (and OS/X?) your typical user runs with just user authority on the machine. So even if an application is compromised, it'll only have the privileges of a user, not an administrator or super-user. Far too many people set up their windows boxes with their main account being an administrator account.

12 posted on 11/11/2010 8:20:19 PM PST by ThunderSleeps (Stop obama now! Stop the hussein - insane agenda!)
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To: lefty-lie-spy

BSD is secure? Fascinatingly delusional.


13 posted on 11/11/2010 8:20:41 PM PST by allmost
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To: ThunderSleeps

IE should be killed.


14 posted on 11/11/2010 8:22:19 PM PST by allmost
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To: TomServo
Apple Fanboy Alert System (small)
15 posted on 11/11/2010 8:23:20 PM PST by Scutter
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To: rwilson99

I didn’t notice any of the 134 either.


16 posted on 11/11/2010 8:24:54 PM PST by MooseMan
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To: allmost

Running in an offline kiosk mode, any OS can be made “safe”.


17 posted on 11/11/2010 8:26:31 PM PST by Dead Corpse (III, Alarm and Muster)
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To: Dead Corpse

If that’s the case then Linux, by it’s free nature, should trump Mac or Win.


18 posted on 11/11/2010 8:29:58 PM PST by allmost
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To: TomServo; driftdiver
Hi Tom,

> To: PugetSoundSoldier; driftdiver

Sorry to say, PugetSoundSoldier is no longer on FR:

http://www.freerepublic.com/~pugetsoundsoldier/

19 posted on 11/11/2010 9:06:50 PM PST by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!)
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To: ThunderSleeps
Far too many people set up their windows boxes with their main account being an administrator account.

And those who set up Windows with limited user accounts often find that their non-Microsoft apps break.

20 posted on 11/11/2010 9:13:34 PM PST by TChad
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