McAfee bites into Apple security

TalkBack 10 of 55:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

Ummm... That's where you're wrong I'm afraid.

Windows is less secure because of decisions made by Microsoft
and the lack of knowledge by the majority of users. Apple
doesn't necessarily make the same mistakes. Accept it and move
on with life.

Microsoft placed IE browser code within the codebase for the OS
and users have paid the price for it many times over (they're now
breaking the code out again with IE7 and Vista). Apple never
placed Safari code within the bowels of their OS.

Not all Windows applications behave well if they're not running
under an administrative user. For example, I know of a CRM
used within some corporations which runs via ActiveX controls
(unfortunately, they won't run if they're not admin on the box, so
_all_ persons in the company are local admins). Microsoft's
security levels are broken or else you wouldn't be hearing about
the worm attacks, etc. Vista will ask users if certain tasks should
be allowed to be performed, and force them to hit continue.
Unfortunately, as it's currently implemented, you'll just condition
users to attempting to do something and having to click
continue without thinking. I mean, c'mon, if I want to delete files
from my desktop, why does that require elevated privileges?

The fact is that if OSX users used iptables to watch outgoing
traffic (or apps Little Snitch), then your scenario wouldn't be
particularly applicable. It would also be the case if Windows
users used a real firewall (such as ZoneAlarm free version).
Volume of systems doesn't matter so much as the _decisions_
made by MS to implement certain features without thinking
about the security implications.

Of course security companies will say that OSX is vulnerable,
they want money from users. Hopefully, people will make
informed decisions and not base things upon their _Windows_
experience as seems to be the case in articles.

Before you ask: yes, I'm a software engineer and system
administrator. Yes, I previously managed the corporate CRMs
and local desktop code. So yes, I do have a clue as to what I'm
talking about.

Posted by: merlin747   Posted on: 05/07/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• VMware Infrastructure: A Guide to Bottom-Line Benefits VMware Frustrated by the costs of maintain ever larger data centers?or building ... Download Now
• Virtualization: Architectural Considerations And Other Evaluation Criteria VMware Of the many approaches to x86 systems virtualization available in the ... Download Now
• Building the Virtualized Enterprise with VMware Iinfrastructure VMware VMware virtualization software has been adopted by over 120,000 enterprise ... Download Now