Apple's Mountain Lion to offer automatic security updates

2»

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 31
    bregaladbregalad Posts: 816member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by MacBook Pro View Post





    Yet, Apple OS X 10.7 Lion is still the most most secure commercial operating system in widespread use.




    Really?!?


     


    So that 600,000 strong Mac botnet was nothing to worry about.


     


    There is much ridicule of MS and Windows users here, but as a percentage of computers the Flashback attack spread farther and wider than any Windows virus/worm/trojan in history.


     


    Mac users have been complacent for too long. Apple has been complacent for too long.


     


     


    All operating system patches are a double edged sword. In an effort to get updates out quickly mistakes will be made. Even when updates are done slowly and deliberately they can contain serious bugs and break 3rd party software. Firefox 13.0 is just the most recent high profile example of automatic updates pushing buggy software to millions of users, but I remember official updates from Microsoft and Apple that rendered machines virtually unusable.


     


    So do you ignore the update and risk whatever the update addresses or do you install the update and find it prevents you from doing your job?


    The choice isn't always clear.

  • Reply 22 of 31
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    [quote name="Bregalad" url="/t/150901/apples-mountain-lion-to-offer-automatic-security-updates#post_2134690"]So that 600,000 strong Mac botnet was nothing to worry about.[/QUOTe]

    When you make up numbers, anything is 'worrisome'.

    [QUOTE]Mac users have been complacent for too long. Apple has been complacent for too long.[/QUOTE]

    And I'm sure they're sorry for allowing Java to even be installed in OS X.
  • Reply 23 of 31
    macbook promacbook pro Posts: 1,605member
    Only 11.2% of users affected by the Flashback trojan were using Mac OS X 10.7 Lion with 28% of those users having not applied at least one update. In other words, we are talking about approximately 67,200 users of which 18, 816 had not applied at least one update. Therefore, the number of impacted users with updated systems (important since this story is regarding automatic security updates) on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion was 48,384 or approximately 0.0008% of all Mac users.

    Furthermore, the comparison of a single instance of malicious software impacting users versus a plethora of malicious software impacting users is ridiculous.

    As far as infected hosts as a percentage of possible hosts (which is a dubious claim at best) there has been malware which has been more prevalent and certainly many more damaging:

    Melissa Virus
    ILOVEYOU worm which, incidentally, caused $10 billion in damages
    Code Red and Code Red II
    Nimda virus
    SQL Slammer (aka Sapphire) which, incidentally, caused $1 billion in damages
    Michelangelo virus
    Sasser virus
    Sobig
    MyDoom


    Further notable, Java Runtime (OpenJDK Project for Java on Mac OS X updates available from Oracle) and Adobe Flash (updates available from Adobe) are no longer bundled applications beginning with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. The removal of Adobe Flash and Java Runtime remove a large number of potential exploits.
  • Reply 24 of 31
    bwikbwik Posts: 565member
    Note to self: Exploit automatic security update vulnerability in Mac OS Mountain Lion. Create security update to take information. End
  • Reply 25 of 31

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post





    Connie, I'm not sure what world you live in or in what world you think we live, but…


     


     


    The one where capturing screenshots "Just Works" is where I am.

  • Reply 26 of 31

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GTR View Post


     


    I'd hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but you just went and posted something silly.


     


    Sarcasm: It's not for everybody.


     


    Time to switch to a different username again to avoid embarrassment?



     


    No embarrassment whatsoever.    I was just pointing out that accomplishing the task is simple with the right tools.

  • Reply 27 of 31
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JerrySwitched26 View Post


     


    No embarrassment whatsoever.    I was just pointing out that accomplishing the task is simple with the right tools.



     


    Oh don't worry, we suspected that.


     


    You'd have to be aware of what you did before feeling embarrassment and this obviously isn't the case here.


     


    Please try and stay aware from any dangerous machinery for the rest of your life.

  • Reply 28 of 31
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    The one where capturing screenshots "Just Works" is where I am.

    Sorry, Zazzles. If you are forced to open an application to access a screenshot, you're doing it wrong.
  • Reply 29 of 31
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    So when can we UNDO updates!? Can Mountain Lion do this?

    Something many have been asking for since, well, 10.0. Something that would rank higher on corporate requirements to start rolling OS X out for business users than almost any other feature Apple has made since 10.0 except the other security and system stability improvements. "oh just reinstall" doesn't fly in the business world. updates should be as easy to roll back as one click. Like on Windows. :/
  • Reply 30 of 31
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    aquatic wrote: »
    So when can we UNDO updates!? Can Mountain Lion do this?

    Not in the slightest. ????
  • Reply 31 of 31
    vorsosvorsos Posts: 302member


    OS X updates aren't typically destructive towards existing 3rd party software. Or am I missing something?


     


    Overall, I'm pleased at this value adding feature. Beats the hell out of any Windows A/V software. Then again, they have a much larger whale to fry.

Sign In or Register to comment.