Apple Patches Five Holes

it's interesting how articles like this fail to make it onto slashdot.com, but if windows needs a patch, it's all in CAPS

I guess MAC's having a Unix base operating system will soon fall under the same problems as Windows.

I agree that no news organization will ever jump when MAC's have security issues.

Maybe the patches would make it in the press if the patches actually ever once fix anything that had actually been exploited, even once, damaging even one Mac.

It will make it in the press when there is actually one real-world virus that affects Mac OS X. One virus. In sharp contrast to the thousands of viruses already affecting Windows, that have cost the economy millions of dollars over the years. Yes, that one virus, that first virus, on Mac OS X will get lots of press.

Until then...

Like it or not fellows you're only about 8% of the market... 12% if you include the free systems Mac gives out to educational business. That makes the system a minority among minorities. So the news of a Mac system having a problem or needing a fix just doesn't really effect the world on the same level as Windows which unfortunately dominates about 80% of the total market. It's all about the numbers.

You take a security flaw in windows that allows a hacker to control a much larger chunk of the system which can be in turn used as a DOS attack to knock other systems and servers offline... well it's a bit easier to understand why that is an issue. You stand much higher monetary damages and you also have a much higher risk potential for data loss even at a government level.

It's not that mac isn't important, it's just the simple fact that if all 8% where compromised it's really not as much of a threat in the big picture.

For the record, so I don't get flamed for this, I own two macs and love them both... I also own three windows boxes and one Linux sever. So I like all the OS even IREX, but it's purely business logic that makes the industry go around in cases like this. Don't take it personally.

The first virus was written on a Unix system. The strange thing is, that was almost 20 years ago, but since then there has only been one Internet worm that took advantage of sendmail on Unix (I include the Mac OS X). Hacking into a Mac is the biggest problem, NOT viruses.

THERE ARE NO VIRUSES ON MACS! There, are you happy? THERE WON'T BE ANY VIRUSES ON MACS EITHER. There were viruses on Macs before OS X, but now that Unix is underneath it they are gone. The challenge is now sent out to the virus writers to prove me wrong. Sure, you CAN write a virus for the Mac, but it is awfully difficult to get it to replicate and be passed on. Can you do that?

But real problem is, who is using 10.4.x? Everybody I know is using 10.3.x.