I'm in total agreement with you on this one Harry. Jeff Slyn, Owner SLYN Systems & Peripherals (502) 426-5469 serving Kentuckiana clients 7 days a week since 1985!
On Sat, 4 Dec 2004 23:02:45 -0500 "Harry Jacobson-Beyer" <harryjb at bellsouth.net> writes: > I've heard hackers don't attack Mac machines because there are so few > of > them (relative to the pcs). If the roles were reversed, ie Macs > having > the major share of the market, wouldn't the hackers be writing code > to > get to them? > Saturday, December 4, 20045:03 PMRob Kerstinglaffmakr at aye.net > > >Reprinted from Kibbles & Bytes, the Small Dog Electronics > newsletter. > >http://www.smalldog.com > > > >"Honeypots and Macs > > > >In a recent test by USA Today and Avantgarde, a San Francisco tech > > >marketing and design firm, six computer systems were set up as > >"honeypots" for two weeks to see what kind of malicious traffic > they > >would attract. Of course, once the testers determined that the > machines > >were compromised they were shut down. This test did not measure web > > >attacks that require active user participation, such as spyware and > > >spam that comes from actively visiting contagious web sites or > opening > >virus-laden email attachments. Rather, the machines were simply > >connected to the net via a DSL line and left alone to be > monitored. > > > >They used four Dell desktop PCs running various configurations of > > >Windows, a Mac running OS X, and a Microtel Linspire running Linux. > The > >results were outstanding. Break-in attempts began as soon as the > >machines were on the net and continued at a fast and furious pace, > with > >an average of 341 attacks per hour on the Windows XP machine. With > > >firewalls activated on any of the systems, the attacks declined to > four > >per hour. Ryan Russell, one of the researchers, explained, "The > >firewalls did their job. If you can't get to them, you can't attack > them." > > > >There were no successful compromises of the Mac, although there > were a > >similar number of attempts. Intruders repeatedly compromised the > ws XP box through the same two security holes used by the MS > >Blaster and the Sasser worm. Intruders were able to seize control > of > >these machines to send out spam, to serve up spamming web sites, > and to > >hijack other computers. Once the system is compromised and under > the > >control of the hacker it can be used for a number of nefarious > >purposes, including joining other computers to form a big spamming > > >network -- all operating right under the nose of the unsuspecting > user. > > > >It is the outstanding security record for the Mac, or perhaps the > > >miserable security performance of Windows machines, that will > >ultimately build the Mac market share. It is the single most > compelling > >feature of OS X that we talk to customers about each day. It only > takes > >a Windows customer a few moments to realize that a lot of his or > her > >headaches from viruses and worms will be lessened with OS X, and to > > >start looking seriously at making the switch." | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be January 25. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>
