NOW READ THIS
("Security Advisory")

Go Back

---

Submitted by: Bill Hickey
NCVA List Master

NRT-0191 MAC Coming Into Focus as Attack Target:

Compared with Windows, the Macintosh platform is still largely untouched by vulnerability exploits. But the prompt release of exploit code for a vulnerability detailed in a 24MAY set of updates shows that it's catching up fast when it comes to grabbing the attention of exploit writers. Security research company Immunity released the exploit code--which leveraged a buffer overflow vulnerability in the UPnP Internet Gateway Device Standardized Device Control code that's used to create port mappings on home NAT (Network Address Translation) gateways in the OS X mDNSResponder implementation -- less than 24 hours after Apple had released a patch for it. Apple implements the protocol in its Bonjour technology to enable devices to automatically discover each other without users having to enter IP addresses or configure DNS servers. The release of the exploit code for this flaw shows that interest in Mac vulnerabilities is high, analysts say. That's not surprising; even though Macs aren't used as broadly in businesses as Windows machines, plenty of consumers use them. The principal analyst for the Enderle Group believes another factor that may be causing attackers to focus more on Macs is that Windows operating systems are getting "much [harder] to penetrate," and to top it all off, Mac users constitute a "relatively lucrative demographi." But a Gartner analyst said that the buss in the hacker underground is that "the bad guys are targeting Macs a little more [but] not enough to be worried about yet." Still many analysts would like Apple to get more serious about security.

(eWEEK 01JUN07)

Last Modified: Tuesday, 05-Jun-2007 22:00:21 EDT