full-disclosure - Question about Mac OS X 10.4 Security

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Date: Tue Feb 28 18:40:30 2006
From: kyphros at gmail.com (Mike Owen)
Subject: Question about Mac OS X 10.4 Security

On 2/28/06, Stef <stefmit@...il.com> wrote:
> On 2/28/06, Paul Schmehl <pauls@...allas.edu> wrote:
> > Still, the ignorance of Mac users, who believe their platform is somehow
> > magically "secure" will contribute to the problem.
> >
<snip>
> I am sorry, Paul, but I have to take you up on this, especially with
> your tendency of generalizing everything. I have used *nix in the
<snip>
> ... so the Mac users are not [only] the bunch of idiots/ignorants whom
> you tend to describe - I would just invite you to attend a blackhat or
> shmoocon, or even SANS or Cisco networkers, and let me know how many
> Mac users you can count there ... and then ask yourself why ... but
> then, again, I may be wrong ;>
>
> Stef

Stef,

You're describing your own experiences, and those of other security
professionals. What Paul is describing is the normal user. I agree
with him that the normal user thinks that because they have a Mac,
they are suddenly immune to everything. As an example, a good friend
of mine has been using an iBook and an iMac for several years, and
likes to talk about how she doesn't have to deal with all the viruses
and problems that her Windows using friends have. When I asked, she
had never done a single update on her computers, because she didn't
think she needed to. I've since convinced her to check for updates on
a weekly basis, which while not perfect, has at least kept her
patched.

Mike