Re: help me understand how a Mac is virtually immune to viruses?

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 18:30:43 -0500, Davoud <star@xxxxxxx> wrote:

>Would you please cite an instance -- just one will do -- in which OS X
>has been hacked? Not attacked, which happens to Macs as much as any
>other platform, but penetrated. Just one instance?

Nope, I can't. But I'd be very surprised if it hasn't happened. Most
systems are subject to compromise under the right circumstances. I've
read of specific cases of both Windows and Unix machines being hacked
behind firewalls in order for specific information to be stolen. There
is no reason to think that a clever hacker can't do the same with OS X,
which is basically just Unix. I wouldn't necessarily expect such a
hacking to have been made public (likewise for most cases with other
operating systems).

Just to be clear, I'm talking about a directed attack with a specific
goal, not an opportunistic attack, which is what nearly all the Windows
exploits involve.

An important difference is that Unix (and OS X) private networks are
more likely to be configured more securely, making it harder to crack
from the Internet. Of course, a properly configured Windows XP network
is also extremely hard to hack- there are just a lot more of these nets
that are badly configured.

In any case, please don't think I'm making any argument that OS X is
insecure, or that in actual practice there aren't many security issues
with Windows configurations. There is no doubt that the average use of
OS X has very little to fear from malicious material spread either on
webpages or via email- quite different from the average user of a
Windows system.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
.

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