Posted on 03/23/2005 8:18:41 PM PST by zarf
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hacker attacks on Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh OS X operating system, thought by many who use the Mac to be virtually immune to attack, are on the rise, according to a report from anti-virus software vendor Symantec Corp.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Big Mac Attack?
:::Yeoow, that is a bad one.....:::
Why on earth would people want to hack onto mac systems?
Mac hacker attacks... PING!
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me!
Good question. Maybe the hackers are getting bored with screwing up Windows users. They want to get the last 5% of the market.
I'd like to see independent proof that this is possible before I believe a software company's claim.
Smart Comment on your part!
I always take statements from companies, which have a financial interest in selling more software, with a grain of salt. Besides Apple has been pretty good and fast at addressing any possible security threats, it was 1 or 2 days ago that Apple released another security update.
Right now I am looking forward to next month's release of Tiger.
Sort of like believing Michael Schiavo?
Yes, Exactly!
Symantec is probably looking to scare MAC users...and build onto their customer base. Apple, unlike the Microsoft folks...actually designs a top-notch system and wants to fix every bug as soon as its found. Symantec needs to show alot of statistics...to prove their point here. The anti-virus market is starting to crowd up...even Microsoft is rumored to be up soon to sell some anti-virus software...so Symantec might be worried about their customer base more than the actual truth.
"Apple's recent introduction of the Mac mini, a $500 computer sold without a display, keyboard or mouse, could actually increase the likelihood of more malicious software computer code targeting the Mac platform, Symantec said. . . ."The market penetration of Macintosh platforms will be accelerated by the much lower priced Mac mini, which may be purchased by less security-savvy users," the report said. "As a result, the number of vulnerabilities can be expected to increase, as will malicious activity that targets them."
Symantec said that over the past year, it had documented 37 high-vulnerabilities -- weaknesses that leave the system open to malicious software attacks -- in Mac OS X. They "have been confirmed by the vendor, which, in the Apple case, almost always means that the company has released a patch."
This is a mere PREDICTION of future potential problems from a company that makes its money from FUD... and who wants to have Mac users buy its software. It says that 37 security issues have been found in OSX in the past year... all patched by Apple as soon as discovered. There is still not one example of a malicious exploit in the wild.
LOL! It's a toddler's job to hack onto Windows systems and such nowadays since Bill Gates is making it that easy...They (the hackers) should leave the innocent macs alone
I expect silence from the Mac users of FreeRepublic on this issue. They will avoid this thread like the plague.
I don't know of anyone who has claimed "unhackable and unbreakable" but I do know of several UNIX programers who have stated that "On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 represents the difficulty of writing a Windows virus, OSX is a 9."
You just had to do that, didn't you? We're starved (oops) for non-Terri threads for days now and you plopped a big one right down early on.
Like Rush's or the President's? I can think of a couple of reasons hackers would like to do that.
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