Solve : Vista, MacBook Out--Only Linux Left in Hacking Contest?

1.	Solve : Vista, MacBook Out--Only Linux Left in Hacking Contest?
Answer» The MACBOOK Air went first; a tiny Fujitsu laptop running Vista was hacked on the last day of the contest; but it was Linux, running on a Sony Vaio, that remained undefeated as conference organizers ended a three-way computer hacking challenge Friday at the CanSecWest conference. LinkWait a minute, I thought Macs were supposed to be the most secure operating system! That's what mac fans claim anyways. I wonder what Socrates has to say about that? Yeah, but check it out -- he hacked the Mac via the Safari browser. Vista held up for two days because that cracker didn't expect to be attacking Service Pack 1. Java lent itself to security problems. The Linux code had bugs, but no one wanted to devote the time necessary to writing code to defeat it. Yeah, I read the article. But still, the notion that macs are more secure than windows is totally blown out of the water. If anything, they are equal because a hole in the os itself was not found. Actually, it could be ARGUED that they only found a hole in the linux os because they were actually aloud to see the source of the os. It's not limited to just trial and error to find a vulnerability. I wonder how many more holes could be found in mac and vista if we could view their source code. They might have been knocked out on the first day! The only thing that has ever made OS X secure is the fact that hardly anyone use it. Malware writers have had little incentive to create something that attacks Macs since their market share has been so low. But as Macs and OS X are increasing in popularity, I think all the Mac fan boys are in for a rude awakening when they realize exactly how ill prepared OS X and Apple are for highly professional malware writers. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/31/apple_security_response_pants/Good points! Maybe there is something to be said for proprietary code... I wasn't exactly defending Apple -- kinda ironic that the hack went thru the browser... I wonder how much UNIX costs, these days... (I know OSX is UNIX-based.)Quote from: Aegis on March 31, 2008, 04:48:54 PM I wonder how much UNIX costs, these days... (I know OSX is UNIX-based.) Free. Ever heard of BSD? FreeBSD? I forgotted about BSD...had my head turned by Linux...used Linspire for a while used Ubuntu -- I like Ubuntu...I happened to be reading some other sites and noticed that Vista was not hacked through Java as this article SEEMED to indicate but was hacked through Adobe Flash. Quote Congratulations to Shane Macaulay from Security Objectives - he has just won the Fujitsu U810 laptop running Vista Ultimate SP1 after it was INSTALLED with the latest version of Adobe Flash. Not only is he the official winner of the Fujitsu laptop, but also $5,000 from us. Shane received some assistance from his friends Derek Callaway (also from Security Objectives) and Alexander Sotirov. If you'll also remember, Shane Macaulay was Dino Dai Zovi's on-site team member at last year's PWN to OWN event in which they ultimately took the top prize. Link

Answer»
The MACBOOK Air went first; a tiny Fujitsu laptop running Vista was hacked on the last day of the contest; but it was Linux, running on a Sony Vaio, that remained undefeated as conference organizers ended a three-way computer hacking challenge Friday at the CanSecWest conference.

LinkWait a minute, I thought Macs were supposed to be the most secure operating system!
That's what mac fans claim anyways.
I wonder what Socrates has to say about that? Yeah, but check it out -- he hacked the Mac via the Safari browser. Vista held up for two days because that cracker didn't expect to be attacking Service Pack 1. Java lent itself to security problems. The Linux code had bugs, but no one wanted to devote the time necessary to writing code to defeat it. Yeah, I read the article. But still, the notion that macs are more secure than windows is totally blown out of the water. If anything, they are equal because a hole in the os itself was not found.
Actually, it could be ARGUED that they only found a hole in the linux os because they were actually aloud to see the source of the os. It's not limited to just trial and error to find a vulnerability. I wonder how many more holes could be found in mac and vista if we could view their source code. They might have been knocked out on the first day! The only thing that has ever made OS X secure is the fact that hardly anyone use it.
Malware writers have had little incentive to create something that attacks Macs since their market share has been so low.
But as Macs and OS X are increasing in popularity, I think all the Mac fan boys are in for a rude awakening when they realize exactly how ill prepared OS X and Apple are for highly professional malware writers.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/31/apple_security_response_pants/Good points!

Maybe there is something to be said for proprietary code...

I wasn't exactly defending Apple -- kinda ironic that the hack went thru the browser...

I wonder how much UNIX costs, these days... (I know OSX is UNIX-based.)Quote from: Aegis on March 31, 2008, 04:48:54 PM

I wonder how much UNIX costs, these days... (I know OSX is UNIX-based.)

Free. Ever heard of BSD? FreeBSD?
I forgotted about BSD...had my head turned by Linux...used Linspire for a while
used Ubuntu -- I like Ubuntu...I happened to be reading some other sites and noticed that Vista was not hacked through Java as this article SEEMED to indicate but was hacked through Adobe Flash.

Quote

Congratulations to Shane Macaulay from Security Objectives - he has just won the Fujitsu U810 laptop running Vista Ultimate SP1 after it was INSTALLED with the latest version of Adobe Flash. Not only is he the official winner of the Fujitsu laptop, but also $5,000 from us. Shane received some assistance from his friends Derek Callaway (also from Security Objectives) and Alexander Sotirov. If you'll also remember, Shane Macaulay was Dino Dai Zovi's on-site team member at last year's PWN to OWN event in which they ultimately took the top prize.

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Solve : Vista, MacBook Out--Only Linux Left in Hacking Contest?

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