Kevin Finisterre caused ripples in the Mac community when he started a website in January revealing a different bug in Apple systems each day of the month.
While some observers dismissed the survey, Apple recently issued a patch to plug holes outlined by Finsterre.
This “independent researcher” (read: out of work) is a little more than a media whore (I’m a bit of a media whore myself). The founder of the now apparently defunct Digital Munition site (no, I won’t give you the URL) is also the same person who wrote at least three versions of the InqTana worm.
Finisterre asserts that Mac users are lax on security. OK, this is where I get a little tired of this foolishness. Sure, every OS has it’s benefits and detractors. The average user of ANY operating system will be wanting on the security front. Why? Simply put, they are average users. Finisterre went on
Apple owners’ attitude to security was “one of the main reasons we started the campaign,” he said.
Well d’uh. (I know, I took the high road). I know plenty of Windows and Linux users that should have their computers confiscated for their sheer stupidity. Just the other day I was talking to a friend of mine who had to reprimand an employee when they downloaded some “free” software from a Russian warez site and the tried to install it on their office machine. Sigh.
Mac OS X has proven to be a more robust operating system but, of course it will have it’s share of problems. Any user in a coffee shop will be a demonstration of the inherent problems of the user population in general. Hell, Defcon in Las Vegas every year has (my personal fav) the Wall of Sheep where users that should REALLY know better have their clear text passwords traversing the network are captured and posted for all to see.
Anyway, yes, the average user of any operating system is lax in security. But more importantly, why is Finisterre allowed to roam freely when Melissa author, David L Smith landed in a US Federal lockup?
[tags]Apple Security, Mac OS X Security, Mac Security[/tags]