Apple’s rising popularity lures hackers

Financial Times ^ | Dec 5, 2007 | Kevin Allison

[cinives]

My PC runs GPS/charting software on my boat. Great stuff.

[cinives]

Neato. Can you give me a list of the open and filtered ports ?

[driftdiver]

“My PC runs GPS/charting software on my boat. Great stuff.”

I forgot about that. arg so much for breaking the chains.

[driftdiver]

“Neato. Can you give me a list of the open and filtered ports ?”

An IP address while you are at it?

[snowrip]

So they don’t realize that there are plenty of ways to hack a Mac

Uhhhhhh... no, there are not. The ONLY way for a virus, etc. to make it into a Mac is for the user to allow it in.

You’ll have to excuse members of The Cult of Mac, they’re ignorant to anything outside of their pretty Apple products

I started on computers in 1984 with a TRS-80. Since then I have owned several DOS/Windows-based systems, and several Macs; the PCs for work, and the Macs by choice. The PCs have been a constant source of irritation, requiring annual and even semi-annual attention for software issues, security issues (especially in the last 4-5 years), and Windows issues. However, I guessing that none of this is news to the vaunted PC users on this thread. The Macs, however, have not crashed even once. They require no debugging, no annual software or hardware maintenance, no over-the-top security software. They have never been hacked, never had a virus or anything even remotely resembling malicious code. I suspect that this, too, is not news.

BTW, "Nonetheless" is one word.

[cinives]

Sorry, I just saw this one. I’d love to know the port #s you find. 9100 ? Is netinfo part of OS X or is it an add-on ?

[robomatik]

i started on a trash-80 too. i think its still around here somewhere...

[cinives]

Nah - I’m not looking to hack his. It’s more a case of I occasionally run into schools with a lot of Macs in labs and as part of network security, I’d like to know what ports might be vulnerable.

[cinives]

Linux has some versions if you’re interested in dumping windoze ...

http://tuxmobil.org/linux_gps_navigation_applications.html

[fremont_steve]

“Unlike the Windows PC, no malware exists that can take over a Mac, without the owner authorizing it. Nor will it exist, due to the fundamental nature of the underlying UNIX architecture of the OSX operating system.”

This is simply a very ignorant comment. I’m a Unix/Linux user & administrator for over 20 years - and I guarantee you that Unix can be hacked. As others have mentioned, root exploits and buffer overflows can indeed get access to the root user status - and which point your precious little mack is “owned.”

[ShadowAce]

[jack_napier]

I’ve had Macs, especially running OS 9, crash on me. And while a UNIX based system is certainly exploitable/hackable, it’s much harder to hide something and make it inaccessible the way malware does in Windows. But this sort of superiority is by no means exclusive to Mac OS, especially as Linux distros like Ubuntu become easier and prettier.

[driftdiver]

“I started on computers in 1984 with a TRS-80. “

Man you’re old!!! I started in ‘80.

MAC had the market back then and then they botched it. MS has its security problems but offers the greatest selection of tools and the greatest interoperability. Their strength is also their weakness.

If I want a unix variant I’ll build a Linux box. Its a lot cheaper and doesn’t feed the liberal mill that Apple is.

[HAL9000]

I hate MACs but may have to build that side of the business up. Its obvious there is going to be a good opportunity to make money with disillusioned mac users.

Don't waste your time. Products built for Macs by Mac-haters are always commercial failures. And there are very few disillusioned Mac users in the first place.

If your target market is disillusioned users, Windows has a monopoly on that.

[driftdiver]

“This is simply a very ignorant comment. I’m a Unix/Linux user & administrator for over 20 years - and I guarantee you that Unix can be hacked. As others have mentioned, root exploits and buffer overflows can indeed get access to the root user status - and which point your precious little mack is “owned.””

Say it ain’t SO!!!

[gjones77]

“The Macs, however, have not crashed even once”

Gee, could of fooled me, while I was supporting Macs they crashed as frequently as PCs.

What, you don’t remember the sad Mac?

And as for hacking, yes, yes they can be hacked, why else would Apple issue over 35 security updates, to plug security holes that can allow a hacker to get access to the system.

People keep saying it’s based on Unix when it’s not, it’s OpenBSD, which is an open platform.

[snowrip]

The cabinets for those things were right out of a Star Trek episode.

[DallasMike]

I don’t know why people have these stupid Mac vs. PC vs. (U)nix wars. The only thing I care about is that Apple stock has been very, very, very good for me over this past year.

[driftdiver]

“Products built for Macs by Mac-haters are always commercial failures. “

Ahh I see you are discriminating against me.

“If your target market is disillusioned users, Windows has a monopoly on that.”

Yep, they pretty much have a monopoly.

[snowrip]

Hey, age is a state of mind.

I’m conservative as hell, and so are the many, many Mac owners I know. The comercials are dopey, but the product is excellent and has been for a long time.