AfterDawn: News

Hackers moving towards Macs, iPhones

If you are a Windows user and have ever had a discussion with a Mac user as to what has the superior operating system, you have undoubtedly heard the argument that OSX is less vulnerable to exploitation, hackers and viruses and therefore the superior operating system. That was never really a fair comparison however, as until recently, Apple never had higher than 10 percent of the market for desktops or laptops and virus makers or hackers normally aim for where they can hit the most people.

Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) security vulnerability analyst Cameron Hotchkies, speaking at the Defcon event, has said that hackers are increasingly moving towards OSX and iPhones, more so then Windows even, especially as the devices grow in popularity.

"There are more eyes looking over Apple products for vulnerabilities," Hotchkies said.

"It has slowly been growing as a target people are more and more interested in."



ZDI specializes in Apple software and is devoted to making "patches" for security holes.

"There are a lot more people getting into it and really getting their hands dirty," said Hotchkies, who added he saw an increase in Mac-toting attendees at the Defcon event.

"I've been seeing a lot of reverse engineering on the Apple platform."

Hotchkies attributes a lot of the increased popularity on the fact that Apple has made their machines friendlier to programs that can run on Windows machines. Hackers that can attack Windows programs can now more easily attack software that has been modified to run on Macs, not completely written for it.

"Windows developers take their code and make it work on Apple," Hotchkies added. "They could take potential vulnerabilities with them or possibly create new ones because they are working on an entirely different platform."


Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Aug 2008 17:11

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• 15 comments

• blueroad

  hey who cares if they can hack the damn phone before they start bombarding us with vuruses they might as well unlock it too..

  10.8.2008 18:02 #1

• SSSJDanny

  If you really bought a Mac because they are "less vulnerable to exploitation, hackers and viruses and therefore the superior operating system" You are an idiot.
  
  I hope all the people that did buy because of that reason should be spammed with viruses.

  10.8.2008 18:10 #2

• 21Q

  I personally feel apple is more devoted to pleasing the customer on a 1 on 1 basis. So I think they will attack any security holes they have harder then microsoft does.

  10.8.2008 18:19 #3

• atomicxl

  I always felt that the reason macs got less viruses wasn't because they were more secure but because hackers want attention. Whats bigger: taking down some small graphics firm or hippie coffee shop or taking down Bank of America or Amazon.com?

  10.8.2008 21:00 #4

• defgod

  Originally posted by atomicxl: I always felt that the reason macs got less viruses wasn't because they were more secure but because hackers want attention. Whats bigger: taking down some small graphics firm or hippie coffee shop or taking down Bank of America or Amazon.com? That's just it. It's not a case of Apple vs. PC. It's more of. Which is more prevalent in the large business.

  10.8.2008 21:08 #5

• j2huggar

  than?

  10.8.2008 22:06 #6

• drach

  Quote:I personally feel apple is more devoted to pleasing the customer on a 1 on 1 basis. So I think they will attack any security holes they have harder then microsoft does.
  That's funny, Microsoft releases security updates more often and more quickly than Apple.

  10.8.2008 22:54 #7

• Hunt720

  Quote:Quote:I personally feel apple is more devoted to pleasing the customer on a 1 on 1 basis. So I think they will attack any security holes they have harder then microsoft does.
  
  
  That's funny, Microsoft releases security updates more often and more quickly than Apple.
  
  yes but I believe the point being made is that it is simply due to the fact that there is a bigger need for this with windows.

  10.8.2008 23:05 #8

• lxfactor

  angry mob: apple profits increacing.. get emm !

  10.8.2008 23:07 #9

• varnull

  The vulnerabilities come from people porting windows applications over to the mac-os. It's still a windows security problem really.
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. An engineer with a single tool in his toolbox is an idiot, not an engineer

  10.8.2008 23:09 #10

• goldstooo

  spam removed

  11.8.2008 02:14 #11

• joe777

  Originally posted by 21Q: I personally feel apple is more devoted to pleasing the customer on a 1 on 1 basis. So I think they will attack any security holes they have harder then microsoft does.Thats just not true my friend.
  Apple is now ripping off their customers left right and center, locking everything up as tight as possible.
  I no nothing whatsoever about the mac, but suffice to say, years ago alot of peeps were shouting about how Macs were the mutts nutts for graphic orientated peeps and that their hardware was all geared towards the photoshop freak among us. Their software was bullet-proof also.
  So without further ado.
  My mate has bought himself an IMac on the premise of super fast, efficient for graphics, all mac hardware and no virus/malware etc.
  I asked: Is it expensive to upgrade? OOOOHHHHHHHH YEAH The Imac is well and truely locked up. Glass in front of the monitor fixed in place with magnets(which need suction cups to be removed)then remove the monitor.That is the only way to get to the HDD, no way to upgrade the graphics card or the proc (as they are soldered on) and they recommend you dont put a HDD bigger than 500gigs in a 20" system or is it 750gigs LMAO The ram you can upgrade, it is accessible ( but if you order your Imac with 2gigs they use the 2 slots 1gig a piece, so if you want to up the ram your left with 2 sticks to try and sell)667Mhz so dimm!!. Go here to look at the specs ( click on specificaties) http://store.apple.com/nl/browse/home/sh...A-KWG-NL_CPU-NL
  So lets recap. Intel proc, generic ram, Nvidia or ATI graphics and to top it all off, his manual states you can install Windoze xp or vista straight off the bat.
  So he got his new Imac and a few months later the screen started playing up with some moisture or something between the glass and the monitor. So he looked at the paperwork to see where to send it for repair and found HE had to pay the postage. Apple state a min of 15 Euros for postage!!!!!
  He has asked for a price to upgrade the HDD to 500 or 750gigs and hasn't been given an answer yet ( ahl post the quote when he gets it, bet that wont be cheap, from an authorised repair shop)
  So what is Apple all about, can someone knowledgable shed some light on this? Are apple only concerned about phones / mp3 players and selling music now or what?
  Does the ceo exclaim at meetings " what!! are we still building new computers!!!! I thought we were selling other peoples work...ermm... I mean music". No listen Steve we are also selling pc's...I mean Imac's, that can run everything that other people made. You see!!!!"
  Maybe its just the Imac that is taking the piss or maybe Im taking the piss. Who here can set the record straight with regards to: what is a mac good for, hardware and software wise and are Apple just ripping the piss?

  11.8.2008 13:31 #12

• susieqbbb

  First off this really isn't all true..
  
  Let me explain..
  
  Some of the viruses that where created for mac os x where created by using backdoors in microsoft software i put this to the test myself i own 2 macintosh computers one is a powerpc mac and one is a intel mac and before i installed microsoft office i couldn't send a single virus malware or even spyware to the macintosh however after installing microsoft office i could gain complete access to the documents and movies folder on the macintosh thanks to microsoft office but i still couldn't completely take over the machine the reason is i would have to be running a operating system that understands and can read and access mac os x code and right now the only machine that can do that is linux and unix but if you build a virus for linux and unix then what happens to all the people running linux and unix and not mac os x.
  
  I feel with the recent climb in viruses malware scam ware and other on windows alone mac os x is still the best os because when a security problem is found the next day you have a fix where under windows it takes a week or better.

  12.8.2008 00:34 #13

• hermes_vb

  It's about time. Let's see how Apple handles being under constant attack. See if they can respond better than MS as their market share grows.

  15.8.2008 17:31 #14

• chrissd

  OSX exploits
  
  Fully documented exploits for the mac.. Macs aren't exempt from viruses and never have been. But why spend all your time learning to reverse engineer Mac os code to find exploits if all companies are using Windows Server 2003.. The payload isn't worth it for todays hackers whose targets revolve around who has the most money. Switch everyone over to a mac and tomorrow you'd all be taken down by a virus. And Apple doesn't release updates faster than M$.. Nowhere near.. M$ releases patches overnight. Even quicker for anything with a security threat above "really low".. Took Apple 5 months to fix a major hole. for one occasion Read the March 2006 bit.. Businesses won't move to Mac till they know they can get support for the hackers who will target them. Microsoft may get hacked a lot but at least they admit they get hacked and release patches within hours instead of months.
  
  Quote:The vulnerabilities come from people porting windows applications over to the mac-os. It's still a windows security problem really.
  
  No. Windows software does have more available exploits available but Safari, OSX etc have their own exploits. And lots of them.
  
  Quote:It's about time. Let's see how Apple handles being under constant attack. See if they can respond better than MS as their market share grows.See above. Apple doesn't respond all that well to security breaches. And their market share won't grow in the business sector unless the person in charge of the company is someone completely removed from the computer world.. Like most ceo's.. lol

  18.8.2008 10:00 #15