Friday, March 28th 2008

Gone in 2 Minutes: Mac Gets Hacked First in Contest

All hypes and myths about Apple being the most secure OS, or at least being the last OS to be hacked may have been busted by Charlie Miller on Thursday when he managed to hack an Apple MacBoock Air for 2 minutes flat during the CanSecWest security conference's PWN 2 OWN hacking contest. Show organizers offered a Sony Vaio, Fujitsu U810 and the MacBook as prizes, saying that they could be won by anybody at the show who could find a way to hack into each of them and read the contents of a file on the system, using a previously undisclosed "0day" attack. Nobody was able to hack into the systems on the first day of the contest when contestants were only allowed to attack the computers over the network, but on Thursday the rules were relaxed so that attackers could direct contest organizers using the computers to do things like visit Web sites or open e-mail messages. Miller, best known as one of the researchers who first hacked Apple's iPhone last year, took advantage of the new privileges given by the jury and within 2 minutes, he directed the contest's organizers to visit a Web site that contained his exploit code, which then allowed him to seize control of the computer. He was the first contestant to attempt an attack on any of the systems, and that was enough for him to win quick $10,000 and perhaps show how secure the MacBook Air was. Continue reading the full story with more details here.
Source: security.itworld.com
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31 Comments on Gone in 2 Minutes: Mac Gets Hacked First in Contest

#26
cdawall
where the hell are my stars
SteevoWhere the hell are your STARS?



Yeah, what you said too.
5000posts=custom title


@timta2 this is something i say to everyone who makes a blanket statement as i have had one shoved in my face before read the whole article and make sure you notice what you are talking about before you go and post something
Posted on Reply
#27
Assimilator
In other unrelated news: Macs blow. (Warning, profanity.)

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. :D
Posted on Reply
#28
cdawall
where the hell are my stars
AssimilatorIn other unrelated news: Macs blow. (Warning, profanity.)

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. :D
bah don't make them click the link...
seph429: lol 3 weeks ago someone posted a post on this board "I'm looking for some cool things macosx can do" hes bumped it every day since, today he posts
seph429: "OKAY I GET IT, THE OS SUCKS AND UR ALL FUCKS I HOPE YOU DIE"
Posted on Reply
#29
beyond_amusia
But Mac OS X is SO secure... LMAO! All that bling bling running in a pretty case... lol. I DO like OS X, but I am not gonna pay 2 arms and a leg for the comupter to run it. It's just funny the Mac went down first, but looking at it, the dude prolly wanted that MacBook Air REALLY bad so he picked it, and I bet everyone else there was after it too, lmao. (who wouldn't want a laptop that fits in an envelope???) It would have been funnier if Vista went down first, but I'm betting UAC kept it safe by frustrating the ppl opperating them to the point that they walked away with the UAC windows open, leaving the Vista laptop unhackable, hehe.
Posted on Reply
#30
effmaster
beyond_amusiaBut Mac OS X is SO secure... LMAO! All that bling bling running in a pretty case... lol. I DO like OS X, but I am not gonna pay 2 arms and a leg for the comupter to run it. It's just funny the Mac went down first, but looking at it, the dude prolly wanted that MacBook Air REALLY bad so he picked it, and I bet everyone else there was after it too, lmao. (who wouldn't want a laptop that fits in an envelope???) It would have been funnier if Vista went down first, but I'm betting UAC kept it safe by frustrating the ppl opperating them to the point that they walked away with the UAC windows open, leaving the Vista laptop unhackable, hehe.
SEE UAC does work:D:D:D
lol but seriously heres the love for macbooks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEAGmBRC1dc
Posted on Reply
#31
Duffman
lol, haven't watched that one for a while. Still chuckle at it
Posted on Reply
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