[access-uk] computer security was:careful regarding a phone call i just received
- From: Gordon Keen <gordonkeen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2011 10:48:36 +0000
Hi
I am totally confident in the general security of apple computers, however as
a small possibility exists for a virus which affects windows systems to be
passed on via an unaffected mac to a windows user I made sure that I installed
an anti virus application and on the first deep scan was surprised to find that
I had one infected file. virus barrier offered to repair the file and made it
safe for me.
If you want to be a responsible computer user, no matter what system you use,
you should take all reasonable steps to make sure your machine is not a vector
for malware.
Regards
G
From glorious Devon, England.
On 1 Feb 2011, at 10:27, Tristram Llewellyn wrote:
> Macs have nothing like the number traditional viruses or Trojans, those that
> are known are relatively few in numbers. Meanwhile Apple very quietly patch
> security holes often without telling the community what it is they have just
> fixed. That Apple are patching the operating system is great however the
> reluctance to let us all know what they have done is not and contributes to a
> general level of ignorance for all. Comparably in the PC industry even if
> Microsoft doesn't bark (which mostly they do these days because they have so
> badly embarrassed in the past) there are hundreds of security researchers all
> working away to find the next exploit being used by hackers and a ton of
> academic researchers too. So although it looks really had in Windows (and
> sometimes it really is) we at least know somewhat the state of play because
> it is in everybody's interest to know and nobody is (or should be) fooled.
>
> An example of how this might change is the episode with Facebook and other
> social networking site security resulting in the Firesheep extension for
> Firefox that allowed people on open wireless networks to take control of
> other user's pages. This security whole is just as wide on the Mac as it is
> on Windows and has the same consequences. It is not a Mac or Windows
> specific problem but both systems are affected equally.
>
> Browsers whether on Mac or PC are all almost universally vulnerable to
> malformed input into them (a technique known as fuzzing) and can be made to
> crash which means there is an exploit in there. Likewise JAVAscript is
> something even Mac owners have to run on their computers in order for pages
> to work yet its power is considerable and if wielded maliciously will cause a
> problem on any platform. Safari along with most other browsers currently
> available are not fully sandboxed and have considerable scope to manipulate a
> target system bypassing most traditional anti-virus systems. Viruses and
> Trojans are relatively complex forms of attack that take time to develop but
> with the power of the tools available today you don't necessarily need to
> create a virus or Trojan to cause trouble but at the moment it is easier and
> Windows is the low hanging fruit.
>
> Regards.
>
> Tristram Llewellyn
> Sight a
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