M Hazell wrote: > Here's my real world example: > > A couple of years ago I had a small home network hooked up behind a x86 > Linux box running iptables, etc, all nicely patched and up to date in line > with my slightly fanatical security bias :)
Linux, not Mac OS, which is the entire point. The Classic Mac OS runs *NO* services vulnerable to attack. Let's talk apples and apples, here, so to speak. Windows is vulnerable via windows shares (and dozens, if not hundreds of MS-induced security flaws). Linux is vulnerable depending on your services and security setup. If you turn off file sharing, the classic Mac OS is utterly invulnerable, even to Kevin Mitnick because there is NO avenue of attack. (Mitnick, btw, is just soooo overrated...much of his vaunted 'hacking' was 'social engineering' as he called it. 'Running a con' is what it's been called for decades...) You could probably do a denial-of-service attack on it with a ping flood, but that would just cause it to not get out on the internet. There are no software holes because the Mac OS just didn't *do* that much. Moreover, Excel barfing on files is a known, chronic problem... Today, with OSX there are points of attack, but compared to Linux it's considerably more secure. I would lay great odds that the entire problem with your Windows box was that you downloaded a trojan somehow. The rules of Computer Security: If you let the bad guy run programs on your computer, it's not your computer anymore. (Don't run services people can exploit.) If you get conned by the bad guy into running a program on your computer, it's not your computer anymore. (Don't run trojan horse programs.) If you let the bad guy touch your computer, it's not your computer anymore. (Remember physical security...keep you console in a locked or otherwise secured room. This is the rule that the mafia guy failed to follow.) If you follow these three rules, you have a secure system. Of course, the divvil's in the details...while rule's 2 and 3 are pretty easy to implement, rule 1 is the one you have to keep up on patches with, and requires you to know your computer system really well. That said, there are so *many* fish out there running unsecured Windows systems on 24/7 broadband connections, no one's gonna *bother* with trying to hack a Mac on a dial-up connection...just like no one's gonna bother stealing my rusty, 20-year-old dented up faded green Honda wagon. -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
