A plethora of reasons. Lack of emphasis on security by MSFT. More interest in selling the next release than securing each release. Buggy code. Went to a security seminar once where it was stated that MSFT code had one bug for every 25 lines of code. IBM was around one bug every 250 lines and NASA was one bug every 10,000 lines. Called KLOC. MSFT is also more available. There are millions of possible targets. That’s why Safari was less exposed to hack than IE. IE had a much larger install base so was more targeted. Many other reasons. Hackers tend to target the easier platform.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone On Monday, May 6, 2019, 9:27 PM, Tom Brennan <[email protected]> wrote: Ok, but why is Windows easier to hack than the mainframe? Personally, I'd find a mainframe far easier to hack because I know a little bit about control blocks, APF auth, SVC's, subsystems, address spaces, RACF, etc., and I know far less about the equivalents on Windows. But of course the first step is to get any kind of userid, and that's done by pretty-much the same methods - regardless of platform. On 5/6/2019 1:18 PM, Bill Johnson wrote: > It’s why banks stay on the mainframe. Security. > > > Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone > > > On Monday, May 6, 2019, 4:09 PM, Bigendian Smalls > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Bill, would you care to back that sweeping generalization up with some detail? > >> On May 6, 2019, at 22:06, Bill Johnson >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Completely different. Hacking Microsoft is way easier. >> >> >> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone >> >> >> On Monday, May 6, 2019, 3:53 PM, Bigendian Smalls >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Which is how 80% of all the hacks today start. Find purchase and advance >> your position. This is how the game is played. It was as classic of a hack >> as anything today. >> >>> On May 6, 2019, at 21:43, Bill Johnson >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Still never would have occurred without a valid userid. >>> >>> >>> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone >>> >>> >>> On Monday, May 6, 2019, 3:18 PM, Charles Mills <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> No. >>> >>> From the link you cite: >>> >>> "According to various sources, the hackers succeeded in finding (and >>> exploiting) at least 2 previously unknown errors enabling them to raise >>> their authorisations in the system. One of them was an error in an IBM HTTP >>> server and the other one was an error in the CNMEUNIX file, which in the >>> default configuration has SUID 0 authorisations (which means that by >>> leveraging on the errors it contains, one is able to execute commands with >>> the system administrator’s authorisations)." >>> >>> His "user" access to InfoTorg was not a problem for the mainframe. (It was >>> a problem for the MPAA lawyer whose account he accessed, but not for the >>> mainframe in general.) The above mainframe security vulnerability was. >>> >>> Charles >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On >>> Behalf Of Bill Johnson >>> Sent: Monday, May 6, 2019 11:17 AM >>> To: [email protected] >>> Subject: Re: mainframe hacking "success stories"? >>> >>> The Pirate Bay hack acquired a valid mainframe userid and password off of a >>> Microsoft laptop. In effect, not really a mainframe hack. He just logged >>> on. https://badcyber.com/a-history-of-a-hacking/ >>> >>> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone >>> >>> >>> On Monday, May 6, 2019, 1:21 PM, Charles Mills <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> #1: Noooooo. It was a legitimate mainframe hack (assuming you consider USS >>> a legitimate part of the mainframe, which it has been for 20 years or so). >>> It was an exploit of CGI buffer overrun. >>> >>> #2: It drives me nuts to hear mainframers explain away mainframe breaches. >>> "It wasn't really a mainframe hack, they got in through USS." "It wasn't >>> really a mainframe hack, they re-used a Windows password." "It wasn't >>> really a mainframe hack ... whatever." If your CEO was standing in front of >>> the press explaining how your company let x million credit card numbers go >>> astray, would it matter HOW they got into your mainframe, or only that they >>> DID?" If your mainframe is vulnerable to a USS hack, or a shared Windows >>> password, or whatever, you need to fix THAT, or risk having to explain to >>> your CEO why he got fired (like Target's) for letting all those credit card >>> numbers go astray. >>> >>> Charles >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On >>> Behalf Of Bill Johnson >>> Sent: Sunday, May 5, 2019 10:00 AM >>> To: [email protected] >>> Subject: Re: mainframe hacking "success stories"? >>> >>> Wasn’t really a mainframe hack. It was a laptop hack that acquired >>> legitimate mainframe credentials. >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>> send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >>> >>> >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>> send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>> send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >>> >>> >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>> send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >> send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN >> >> >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >> send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
