Why Apple rocks
08-03-2009, 11:24 AM
#91
Senior Members
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Posts: 6,458
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
first thing in the morning i'll be tossing my apple keyboard in the junk... (NOT)
Or i think i should start looking for Antivirus for Apple keyboards.... hmmm....
08-03-2009, 12:21 PM
#92
Contributors
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,573
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2006 530i Sport
Silver Gray - Black Leather - Anthracite Maple
Manual Transmission
Premium Audio
Cold Weather Package
Rear sunshade
Sirius Radio
Autobahnd Roadblock (3M) film kit
More from the Black Hat conference... I had mistakenly said DEFCON before. It was Black Hat that just happened over the weekend.
http://www.dailytech.com/Another+Major+Mac...rticle15832.htm
http://www.dailytech.com/Another+Major+Mac...rticle15832.htm
08-03-2009, 12:26 PM
#93
Former Vendor
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: SoCal
Posts: 5,051
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
My Ride: 14 550i
DEFCON was this weekend as well. 
Michael
Michael
Originally Posted by UUronL' post='964151' date='Aug 3 2009, 01:21 PM
More from the Black Hat conference... I had mistakenly said DEFCON before. It was Black Hat that just happened over the weekend.
http://www.dailytech.com/Another+Major+Mac...rticle15832.htm
http://www.dailytech.com/Another+Major+Mac...rticle15832.htm
08-03-2009, 02:34 PM
#94
Senior Members
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Posts: 6,458
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by UUronL' post='964151' date='Aug 3 2009, 11:21 PM
More from the Black Hat conference... I had mistakenly said DEFCON before. It was Black Hat that just happened over the weekend.
http://www.dailytech.com/Another+Major+Mac...rticle15832.htm
http://www.dailytech.com/Another+Major+Mac...rticle15832.htm
We've been reading about security or lack of dooms day scenarios for Mac users for decades yet they NEVER happened. Until i see thousands and thousands of Macs acros the world taken over or infected in a few days i'll rest my case.
Till then UUronL you can post all the bad Apple talk here as much as you want. In fact i thank you for that, trully. It gives me a more let's say not so biased opinion, about Mac security (although i might say that doesn't sound unbiased at all: Writing code for Vista is harder than for Mac) Come on!
Until I see frequent appearances in this list: http://www.wildlist.org/WildList/ or in any other AV companys' list of Mac Viruses or malware that's widespread i will NOT buy a thing!
People can argue that Apple is too sluggish when it comes to patching things up, and it may very well be true. I say LET THEM! That way consumers may put stress on Apple to do it's job more effectively, however i didn't really notice any screaming from the Mac user camp since neither the Java hole or the SMS problem or any other rare security flaw really affected anyone, and if it did it was on a too small of a scale. Most of the shouting is done from the PC camp, and i wonder why is that!? Are people so frustrated that they stop worrying about their own problems and start looking into others?!
Also here's another review that states the same thing:
So there are far fewer viruses for Mac OS X and Linux. It's true that those two operating systems do not have monopoly numbers, though in some industries they have substantial numbers of users. But even if Linux becomes the dominant desktop computing platform, and Mac OS X continues its growth in businesses and homes, these Unix-based OS's will never experience all of the problems we're seeing now with email-borne viruses and worms in the Microsoft world. Why?
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/188
*Note the article is quite old, and things changed from then but the base still remains the same and the following is still applied to this very day!!!
Why are Linux and Mac OS X safer?
First, look at the two factors that cause email viruses and worms to propagate: social engineering, and poorly designed software. Social engineering is the art of conning someone into doing something they shouldn't do, or revealing something that should be kept secret. Virus writers use social engineering to convince people to do stupid things, like open attachments that carry viruses and worms. Poorly designed software makes it easier for social engineering to take place, but such software can also subvert the efforts of a knowledgable, security-minded individual or organization. Together, the two factors can turn a single virus incident into a widespread disaster.
Let's look further at social engineering. Windows software is either executable or not, depending on the file extension. So if a file ends with ".exe" or ".scr", it can be run as a program (yes, of course, if you change a text file's extension from ".txt" to ".exe", nothing will happen, because it's not magically an executable; I'm talking about real executable programs). It's easy to run executables in the Windows world, and users who get an email with a subject line like "Check out this wicked screensaver!" and an attachment, too often click on it without thinking first, and bang! we're off to the races and a new worm has taken over their systems.
First, look at the two factors that cause email viruses and worms to propagate: social engineering, and poorly designed software. Social engineering is the art of conning someone into doing something they shouldn't do, or revealing something that should be kept secret. Virus writers use social engineering to convince people to do stupid things, like open attachments that carry viruses and worms. Poorly designed software makes it easier for social engineering to take place, but such software can also subvert the efforts of a knowledgable, security-minded individual or organization. Together, the two factors can turn a single virus incident into a widespread disaster.
Let's look further at social engineering. Windows software is either executable or not, depending on the file extension. So if a file ends with ".exe" or ".scr", it can be run as a program (yes, of course, if you change a text file's extension from ".txt" to ".exe", nothing will happen, because it's not magically an executable; I'm talking about real executable programs). It's easy to run executables in the Windows world, and users who get an email with a subject line like "Check out this wicked screensaver!" and an attachment, too often click on it without thinking first, and bang! we're off to the races and a new worm has taken over their systems.
This sort of social engineering, so easy to accomplish in Windows, requires far more steps and far greater effort on the part of the Linux user. Instead of just reading an email (... just reading an email?!?), a Linux user would have to read the email, save the attachment, give the attachment executable permissions, and then run the executable. Even as less sophisticated users begin to migrate to Linux, they may not understand exactly why they can't just execute attachments, but they will still have to go through the steps.
Further, due to the strong separation between normal users and the privileged root user, our Linux user would have to be running as root to really do any damage to the system. He could damage his /home directory, but that's about it. So the above steps now become the following: read, save, become root, give executable permissions, run. The more steps, the less likely a virus infection becomes, and certainly the less likely a catastrophically spreading virus becomes. And since Linux users are taught from the get-go to never run as root, and since Mac OS X doesn't even allow users to use the root account unless they first enable the option, it's obvious the likelihood of email-driven viruses and worms lessens on those platforms.
Unfortunately, running as root (or Administrator) is common in the Windows world. In fact, Microsoft is still engaging in this risky behavior. Windows XP, supposed Microsoft's most secure desktop operating system, automatically makes the first named user of the system an Administrator, with the power to do anything he wants to the computer. The reasons for this decision boggle the mind. With all the lost money and productivity over the last decade caused by countless Microsoft-borne viruses and worms, you'd think the company could have changed its procedures in this area, but no.
Even if the OS has been set up correctly, with an Administrator account and a non-privileged user account, things are still not copasetic. On a Windows system, programs installed by a non-Administrative user can still add DLLs and other system files that can be run at a level of permission that damages the system itself. Even worse, the collection of files on a Windows system - the operating system, the applications, and the user data - can't be kept apart from each other. Things are intermingled to a degree that makes it unlikely that they will ever be satisfactorily sorted out in any sensibly secure fashion.
Unfortunately, running as root (or Administrator) is common in the Windows world. In fact, Microsoft is still engaging in this risky behavior. Windows XP, supposed Microsoft's most secure desktop operating system, automatically makes the first named user of the system an Administrator, with the power to do anything he wants to the computer. The reasons for this decision boggle the mind. With all the lost money and productivity over the last decade caused by countless Microsoft-borne viruses and worms, you'd think the company could have changed its procedures in this area, but no.
Even if the OS has been set up correctly, with an Administrator account and a non-privileged user account, things are still not copasetic. On a Windows system, programs installed by a non-Administrative user can still add DLLs and other system files that can be run at a level of permission that damages the system itself. Even worse, the collection of files on a Windows system - the operating system, the applications, and the user data - can't be kept apart from each other. Things are intermingled to a degree that makes it unlikely that they will ever be satisfactorily sorted out in any sensibly secure fashion.
And with this i rest my case with this discussion. I feel i said enough (before becoming too fanboyish)
(does that word even exist) and if anyone had the eyes to read they would have done it by now. That is not to say i will stop reading the thread about yet other Apple dooms day scenarios and/or utterly cataclysmic threats because you'll never know when stuff will for real get bad. I say that because i know 1. Apple isn't perfect. Far from it! and 2. I'm not completely blind to potential threats, even as a Mac user 
08-03-2009, 02:48 PM
#95
Former Vendor
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: SoCal
Posts: 5,051
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
My Ride: 14 550i
BetterMakeWay doesn't want to secure until a threat is in the wild which will either (1) be too late because he'll be infected or and the most likely scenario (2) he'll buy AV software.
I feel the same way about my phone. AV exists for phones but I choose not to run it until something bad happens.
From a security point of view is this right? Probably not, but for someone who seems technology inclined it's probably fine.
(my attempt at squashing the topic)
Michael
I feel the same way about my phone. AV exists for phones but I choose not to run it until something bad happens.
From a security point of view is this right? Probably not, but for someone who seems technology inclined it's probably fine.
(my attempt at squashing the topic)
Michael
08-05-2009, 05:26 AM
#96
Contributors
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,573
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2006 530i Sport
Silver Gray - Black Leather - Anthracite Maple
Manual Transmission
Premium Audio
Cold Weather Package
Rear sunshade
Sirius Radio
Autobahnd Roadblock (3M) film kit
BetterMakeWay and I have a long history of friendly banter, so this is all in good fun. Neither of us is upset or angry.
I should know better than to argue these points... Apple vs. (world) is really a religious discussion in the most real and literal sense. We all know you can't use reason to alter beliefs - especially religious ones.
I should know better than to argue these points... Apple vs. (world) is really a religious discussion in the most real and literal sense. We all know you can't use reason to alter beliefs - especially religious ones.
08-05-2009, 05:33 AM
#97
Senior Members
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Posts: 6,458
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by UUronL' post='966218' date='Aug 5 2009, 04:26 PM
BetterMakeWay and I have a long history of friendly banter, so this is all in good fun. Neither of us is upset or angry.
I should know better than to argue these points... Apple vs. (world) is really a religious discussion in the most real and literal sense. We all know you can't use reason to alter beliefs - especially religious ones.
I should know better than to argue these points... Apple vs. (world) is really a religious discussion in the most real and literal sense. We all know you can't use reason to alter beliefs - especially religious ones.
). But i truly enjoy doing it, especially with you...
NO that didn't sound right ! (intended 
) ... since i learn quite a lot of things. So IMHO even though as you said this thing is close to a religious discussions, even from such discussions one can learn a lot if all things remain civil, intelligent, without results in name calling or flaming.
09-20-2009, 02:29 PM
#98
Originally Posted by swajames' post='955145' date='Jul 27 2009, 12:47 AM
One of my old G5 iMacs started randomly putting itself to sleep lately. A look at the log files showed that the CPU was exceeding its maximum operating temperature and the OS was putting the machine to sleep as a protective measure.
My suspicion was that there was probably dust build up on the fans and heatsink, but this particular model of iMac (unlike later revisions) wasn't designed to be user-serviceable and case disassembly doesn't give easy access to the internals.
I took the machine to my local Apple store yesterday. They said they would take a look and would probably be able to get me the verdict by Monday.
In the event, they called me back same-day to tell me my machine was ready. There was indeed a build-up of dust on the fan blades and they cleaned up the fans and the rest of the internals.
The most pleasant surprise, however, was that not only was my well-out-of-warranty machine fixed, tested and cleaned, there was no charge. The machine is working perfectly.
Just one example of why this company absolutely rocks.
My suspicion was that there was probably dust build up on the fans and heatsink, but this particular model of iMac (unlike later revisions) wasn't designed to be user-serviceable and case disassembly doesn't give easy access to the internals.
I took the machine to my local Apple store yesterday. They said they would take a look and would probably be able to get me the verdict by Monday.
In the event, they called me back same-day to tell me my machine was ready. There was indeed a build-up of dust on the fan blades and they cleaned up the fans and the rest of the internals.
The most pleasant surprise, however, was that not only was my well-out-of-warranty machine fixed, tested and cleaned, there was no charge. The machine is working perfectly.
Just one example of why this company absolutely rocks.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
speedlimit
5 Series Announcements
4
01-15-2018 12:34 PM
umnitza
Vendor Classifieds
1
09-02-2015 11:28 AM