[Hands0n]

For goodness sake Apple, get a grip! This is inexcusable :(


Upgrading to the latest version of Apple's operating system, might make a Mac less secure, say experts.

A test of Leopard revealed that installing it led to the firewall on a Mac being turned off and its default setting changed to leave it disabled.

Heise Security, who conducted the tests, said the failings meant users could not "rely" on the firewall to protect them.

Apple has yet to comment about the security shortcomings in Leopard.

Leopard, the newest version of OS X, was launched on 26 October and since then Apple claims to have sold or delivered more than two million copies of the software.

But a test of Leopard by Heise Security security expert Jurgen Schmidt found that the firewall in the updated software was set to off and allowed any and every incoming net connection.

Mr Schmidt also found that installing the software as an upgrade to a machine on which the firewall was turned on would lead to this protective software being turned off when that computer was re-started.

He also found that even when the firewall was re-activated it did not let users know about all the potentially vulnerable processes running on that machine.

Commenting for Heise Mike Barwise, editor of the site, said: "This as a serious problem: It provides a false sense of security, which is more dangerous than a lack of actual security that you know about."

Apple has yet to respond to a BBC request for comment on the Heise findings.

Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, said: "Year after year, Macs continue to have these potential security problems.

"However, in practice they just don't seem to become real-world problems," he added. "The old wisdom still stands: if you want to avoid viruses and worms, get a Mac."

Source Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7071017.stm


The closing comment is little compensation - in time the Virus writers will turn their attention to Apple Mac computers once critical mass is reached making it worthwhile. The notion that a Virus on Un*x is impossible is naieve, it is possible, just not at all widespread.

[Ben]

I've read user reports saying the new firewall is harder to use and doesn't necessarily block all traffic when you'd think it would.

Apple continuing to ship OS X with the firewall turned off is a disappointment. Yes, we know UNIX is very secure, and we know that what Apple have placed on top is pretty secure too, but that doesn't mean UNIX boxes don't need firewalls. With rapidly growing market share Apple could be a target for malware sooner than they think.

[Hands0n]

I have had to enable the Firewall on both my Leopard installs - I'm a bit annoyed that the security on the system has been compromised by such a silly mistake on Apple's behalf. At least they could have made it a bit more public that the Firewall was off by default to at least give us a chance at protecting ourselves.

Everyone knows that it is best practise to keep systems secure and safe. Apple, at the very least, should know better! Grrrrrrrr

[3g-g]

Hmm, I think I'll still wait for a few weeks before taking the plunge... The one thing I've come to take for granted after moving to OSX is the safety of it, I don't think I'd like to have to start securing things again on my own. I'll just let Apple sort those wee things out then I'll get myself a Leopard. :)

[Ben]

I've never used the OS X firewall, it's all done on routers and wotnot.

Hopefully most people are behind NAT these days, which acts as an excellent firewall, as the days of USB ADSL modems and, gasp, dialup are largely over. Still, it's hard to understand how Apple can have flagrant disregard for security when they're making massive gains in the Desktop OS space.

[Hands0n]

The thing is, Ben, I use my MBP with my N95 as an HSDPA modem so it needs its own firewall. When home and on the WLAN things are nice and secure again.

Perhaps, then, for non-mobile users and those with SPI-firewalled routers on their LAN the problem does not exist.

[Ben]

Mhm, the HSDPA connection will be NAT'd so you're pretty safe, though I guess ports may be open to other local services on the same ISP. Of course that doesn't negate that Apple are potentially being irresponsible...

[Hands0n]

Hmmm, when it comes to firewalling I feel unable to trust the mobile network operators to do the job properly. After all, my perimiter is the USB or Bluetooth port on my device. It is all a matter of trust, I feel ...