Posted on 12/01/2005 5:37:50 PM PST by Halfmanhalfamazing
Two new pieces of computer code that could be used in cyberattacks on Windows users were posted on the Web on Wednesday and Thursday.
The exploit posted Thursday is another that could allow a remote attacker to gain complete control over a vulnerable computer. The code takes advantage of a flaw in a Windows component for transaction processing, called the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator. Microsoft addressed the flaw in security bulletin MS05-051 in October.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
Are we all ready for Vista?
Viruses Intrusions Spyware Trojans Adware
On a side note installed Firefox 1.5 today, definately faster.
Not one virus, trojan horse, adware, spyware and almost zero pop-up ads.
Uh huh!
And the last two days at my Windows-only company, about half of our PC's have been down with a nasty trojan horse. This with a professional IT staff, firewalls, virus software, etc. Gotta love Windows!
There is no operating system that is 100% secure, but Windows tends to make exploiting it far too easy.
Exploiting weaknesses in modern UNIX systems, like Mac OS X, is a task for hacker elites. Teenagers with basic scripting skills need not apply.
So, generally - Macs are more difficult to exploit through a network. And it isn't a difficulty born of obscurity. It is a result of the UNIX underpinnings that severely limit programs based on their permissions. This of course means the primary means by which Macs are vulnerable to malicious code is when the user is duped into running the software, and even then - the operating system will ask for admin authentication if the program in question tried to do anything out of the ordinary.
Im sure its on purpose.... *rolling eyes* at mac fanatics.
Nobody is perfect and its asinine to believe the exploits are intentional.
In any complex system there are bound to be ways to exploit the system, against the good intentions of the authors.
The skill level required to crack Windows is much lower than the skill level required to crack Mac OS X, and admittedly - Windows has become more difficult to crack than it was only a few years ago.
The weaknesses in Windows that make network viruses possible is due to features in the software that use those exact same weaknesses for legitimate purposes.
On a Mac some of these weaknesses exist, for exactly the same reason they exist under Windows, because they're useful for legitimate software. The primary difference between Windows and the Macintosh is that it is more difficult to exploit those weaknesses to run malicious code, or to replicate and spread a virus.
You don't have to accept this fact because it is difficult to prove in the absence of email/network viruses for the Macintosh, and the absence can't be accepted as proof.
It has nothing to do with fanaticism that people like me defend the Macintosh. We're just pointing out that the Mac is inherently secure, separate from the security obtained by its so-called obscurity.
So, if and when, the system crackers start going after the Macintosh, it will take their elite and most creative minds to succeed. The amateurs and less brilliant script bunnies that are hopping around the internet attacking Windows machines just don't have what it takes to create a self-replicating, propagating virus for a Macintosh.
ping
Oh please. It's the same comparison windows/mac windows/linux and IE/Firefox.
When everything is said and done, year by year windows/IE has the most critical flaws.(and in most cases, the most total flaws)
That is a recap of ALL the minor to serious OS X (and its underlying UNIX components and applications) security flaws, not holes, that were patched to date in 2005... it is not current.
By the way, if you're using an older version of Firefox be very careful if you're upgrading to Firefox 1.5. Check to make sure all your themes and extensions are upgraded to be Firefox 1.5-compatible or else strange things could happen displaying certain web pages.
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