Mac ::: Arstechnica about Mac OS X Security
Posted by: fidel in mac, tags: arstechnica, little snitch, securityEric Kennedy wrote a good article called
Keeping your Mac locked down: a Mac OS X security primer
about some security aspects while using Mac OS X on arstechnica.
Teaser:
Apple’s approach to security can be a little bewildering at times. It’s a well-trumpeted aspect of the OS, marketed in detail on the website. Mac OS X has integrated smartcard support and Apple has certified the OS under the Common Criteria guidelines; a section of Apple’s developer site is devoted to the subject of security.
At the same time, Apple didn’t offer cryptographically signed software updates until its hand was forced in July 2002. The company is notorious for boiling down release notes for software updates to “provides bug fixes and security updates” (although the separate mailings posted to the security-announce list do tend to offer a little more detail). While other Unix distributions tend to patch holes in open-source code relatively quickly, Apple sometimes delays rolling out a security fix in the open-source components of Mac OS X for months or even years.
The phrase “security through obscurity” gets tossed around from time to time when discussing Mac OS X. The theory is that since Macs still represent a fraction of the available computers on the internet, there’s less of an incentive for virus writers, malware authors, spambot harvesters, Comcast sales reps, and other purveyors of electronic evil to harass and attack the platform. Why target 5 percent of the population when you can get much better results by going after Windows?
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