Your Macs are not ultra-portable devices running Mobile OSes either. And the fact that you have not heard doesn't mean malware and vulnerabilities don't exist. The App Store is part of the ecosystem that maintains security and reliability for the iOS platform, and therefore has a lot to do with it.
Sandboxing each app and making sure that apps are produced either by HTML or by known libraries that can be analyzed before being approved has a lot to say for it, doesn't it?
Or, you can install AV software on the phone if you don't mind eating up battery and speed by having to run Mobile McAfee.
With the latest iterations of OS X, Apple has introduced many initiatives to prevent security issues. One of the most interesting is known as address space layout randomization (ASLR) which is more commonly known as memory randomization. ASLR is important because it makes one of the most common security issues, the buffer overflow, almost impossible to exploit.
For those of you who don?t understand it, think of it this way. Imagine the memory of your computer like a map of your hometown. Some vandal wants to change some of the street names to mess with your map. In order for him to do that, he needs to know the exact longitude and latitude of those streets. It?s easy for him because he can buy a map of your hometown and get that same information.
The latest version of OS X chops that map up into little squares and randomly rearranges them, but is also smart enough to know how to continue reading the map unhindered by the confusing rearrangement. Nobody is able to buy a map arranged exactly like that so nobody can get the exact information they need to vandalize your map. It doesn?t mean they can?t. They just can?t quite zero in on exact targets anymore.
On top of that, OS X also offers tagged downloading of applications (a system that watches very closely what gets downloaded and run on your computer and alerts the user before it runs for the first time), stronger forms of built-in encryption, more robust firewall features that watch for malware-like activity and application sandboxing to prevent hackers from targeting program-specific vulnerabilities.
To be fair, most of that is catching up with Windows. However, here's the question: do you want the mobile platform to become a cesspool of viruses, worms, rootkits, etc.? If not, I have no objection to the App Store, or to the coding being done with known libraries that can be analyzed by Apple before they're put on the phone. Put Adobe "one Flash app for all" software on the iPhone, and the Apple inspectors can't tell what the heck's going on.
My Macs do not have a curated, walled App store... and yet I have never heard of a single legitimate virus/malware threat. The App store has nothing to do with it, other than being a means to protect idiots from themselves.
But that is the whole point of the app store's so called walled garden - to protect users from themselves.
The problem with Android's philosophy of leaving it up to the user is that, most don't know what they are doing and in all likelihood that will end in disaster. Its exactly the same as XP - users do stupid things and because of the vulnerability of the platform, end up getting their id/cc stolen etc. But in actual fact its worse than XP, because the OS is completely open source - making it much easier for hackers to completely understand the system and find and exploit its flaws.
Yup, why post news with half the facts. Especially when the missing half is that heaps of wallpaper apps on android send all your private info to unknown servers for spam.
Oh hang on, what is the problem actually. Google already does the same thing so they can target spam.
...heaps of wallpaper apps on android send all your private info to unknown servers for spam.
Except they don't and you repeating that Dilger promoted rubbish won't make it true. There's no way to know if any of the thousands of AppStore apps are not doing that exact thing. Or other more dangerous stuff. That's the real problem - people like you believing that Apple is free of such potential risk and assuming that it's only a problem with Apple's opposition.
You need to read more than Dilger's propagandist diatribes if you really want to know what dangers there are. My guess is that you actually don't want to know though, and you'd rather reject reality in order to enjoy taking a shot at those evil Android promoters who you fear are threatening Apple's position in the smartphone market.
All sizzle and no steak. These guys are trying to get attention by releasing a vague headline and letting it fester, claiming they will discuss details tomorrow.
Probably will end up being some crap you have to compile into a device-specific OS image, copy over via USB, and manually install after rebooting into recovery mode.
(Or as iPhone users call it, "jailbreaking")
shawnb posts on Apple Insider. Check.
shawnb actually reads the article before posting. Fail.
This rootkit works as a loadable kernel module, so it needs root access to install.
It will be interesting the details to install it, if you have to have root acccess on the phone to install it proactively or if it uses som bug to reach it
If is the first, it's a threat as dangerous as rootkit programs for other Nix platforms (Linux, OS X, etc) if it's the later it can be a dangerous threat in the wild.
Except they don't and you repeating that Dilger promoted rubbish won't make it true. There's no way to know if any of the thousands of AppStore apps are not doing that exact thing. Or other more dangerous stuff. That's the real problem - people like you believing that Apple is free of such potential risk and assuming that it's only a problem with Apple's opposition.
You need to read more than Dilger's propagandist diatribes if you really want to know what dangers there are. My guess is that you actually don't want to know though, and you'd rather reject reality in order to enjoy taking a shot at those evil Android promoters who you fear are threatening Apple's position in the smartphone market.
Yeah, it's not as if Apple actually tests and approves the apps it tests before it adds them to the App Store. Funny how people call out FUD and then spread some of their own. Apple might not be perfect, but it's funny how the worst example people have of an app getting by Apple is one that adds a secret tethering feature that people actually want. Personally, I'd rather be stuck with apps like that than ones that send my phone number to China.
The story turned out not to be as dire as everybody thought, but it's not as innocent as the fandroids now claim either.
Android is so insecure its not even funny. Android phones should not be allowed in the enterprise.
Oh really? Android phones are insecure because idiots download spamware apps without reading the security dialog? Yes, reading permissions can be tedious, but at least they're required to SHOW what permissions are accessed. Wasn't there a study that came out within the past few weeks showing that well over 20% of free apps in the iOS app store had access to your contacts and personal information? Do you have an easy way to know which ones do?
Android, like ANY other platform is only as secure as the user. Since the market is a bit more open then there are some additional risks involved, just like with a windows PC, if you decide to search for freeware, you're taking a bigger risk than going to a store and buying only titles they have on CD. That's why android implemented the permissions dialog. IN fact, one of the updates with FROYO is that it will not put in glaring red text if an app you downloaded had updated permissions.
Is it perfect? no. But it never claimed to be.
Secondly, this is a site for Apple related news. Why are you (the OP) posting this on your website? All this kind of trash does is affirm the fanboys who agree with you anyway, and ensure that people who don't will continue to ignore your site.
ANDROID is WAYYY WAYYYYYYYYY MORE Vulnerable and Insecure than the iPhone.
Oh really? You mean that my android phone, without interaction from myself, is somehow less secure than an iphone in the same situation?
The weak point in any security is the user. Apple assumes you're an idiot, so they wall the garden to limit your choices (eliminating security threats, but also a lot of useful things as well). Google assumes that as a whole people are at least a bit intelligent, so they don't wall off the market. Yes, this means some additional danger with those added benefits, but EVERY app has these nice orange tags that tell you exactly what that app does. If you're too stupid/lazy to take the warning, that is YOUR fault.
Unless the exploit comes from something other than user error, it's not an issue with the OS.
My Macs do not have a curated, walled App store... and yet I have never heard of a single legitimate virus/malware threat. The App store has nothing to do with it, other than being a means to protect idiots from themselves.
There is a simple reason for that. There are not enough MACs in use to warrant malicious virus attacks. Who would notice?
Comments
Well the Android fanboys seem to be very silent on this issue.
That's one benefit.
Funny how that Android blogger was whining about the special torment his beloved phone was given, and how it wasn't that big a problem. Ha, ha.
I don't know how big a problem it is, but I've got to say, the big centralized app store and the strict rules don't seem so bad to me now.
Tell me, if you've got a rootkit on your Samsung Droid S Incredible Ecstatic Orgasmic, how do you get it off?
Your Macs are not ultra-portable devices running Mobile OSes either. And the fact that you have not heard doesn't mean malware and vulnerabilities don't exist. The App Store is part of the ecosystem that maintains security and reliability for the iOS platform, and therefore has a lot to do with it.
Sandboxing each app and making sure that apps are produced either by HTML or by known libraries that can be analyzed before being approved has a lot to say for it, doesn't it?
Or, you can install AV software on the phone if you don't mind eating up battery and speed by having to run Mobile McAfee.
With the latest iterations of OS X, Apple has introduced many initiatives to prevent security issues. One of the most interesting is known as address space layout randomization (ASLR) which is more commonly known as memory randomization. ASLR is important because it makes one of the most common security issues, the buffer overflow, almost impossible to exploit.
For those of you who don?t understand it, think of it this way. Imagine the memory of your computer like a map of your hometown. Some vandal wants to change some of the street names to mess with your map. In order for him to do that, he needs to know the exact longitude and latitude of those streets. It?s easy for him because he can buy a map of your hometown and get that same information.
The latest version of OS X chops that map up into little squares and randomly rearranges them, but is also smart enough to know how to continue reading the map unhindered by the confusing rearrangement. Nobody is able to buy a map arranged exactly like that so nobody can get the exact information they need to vandalize your map. It doesn?t mean they can?t. They just can?t quite zero in on exact targets anymore.
On top of that, OS X also offers tagged downloading of applications (a system that watches very closely what gets downloaded and run on your computer and alerts the user before it runs for the first time), stronger forms of built-in encryption, more robust firewall features that watch for malware-like activity and application sandboxing to prevent hackers from targeting program-specific vulnerabilities.
To be fair, most of that is catching up with Windows. However, here's the question: do you want the mobile platform to become a cesspool of viruses, worms, rootkits, etc.? If not, I have no objection to the App Store, or to the coding being done with known libraries that can be analyzed by Apple before they're put on the phone. Put Adobe "one Flash app for all" software on the iPhone, and the Apple inspectors can't tell what the heck's going on.
Android = The Windows XP of Mobile.
CRAPPY. INSECURE. SECOND-RATE.
My Macs do not have a curated, walled App store... and yet I have never heard of a single legitimate virus/malware threat. The App store has nothing to do with it, other than being a means to protect idiots from themselves.
But that is the whole point of the app store's so called walled garden - to protect users from themselves.
The problem with Android's philosophy of leaving it up to the user is that, most don't know what they are doing and in all likelihood that will end in disaster. Its exactly the same as XP - users do stupid things and because of the vulnerability of the platform, end up getting their id/cc stolen etc. But in actual fact its worse than XP, because the OS is completely open source - making it much easier for hackers to completely understand the system and find and exploit its flaws.
Yup, why post news with half the facts. Especially when the missing half is that heaps of wallpaper apps on android send all your private info to unknown servers for spam.
Oh hang on, what is the problem actually. Google already does the same thing so they can target spam.
...heaps of wallpaper apps on android send all your private info to unknown servers for spam.
Except they don't and you repeating that Dilger promoted rubbish won't make it true. There's no way to know if any of the thousands of AppStore apps are not doing that exact thing. Or other more dangerous stuff. That's the real problem - people like you believing that Apple is free of such potential risk and assuming that it's only a problem with Apple's opposition.
You need to read more than Dilger's propagandist diatribes if you really want to know what dangers there are. My guess is that you actually don't want to know though, and you'd rather reject reality in order to enjoy taking a shot at those evil Android promoters who you fear are threatening Apple's position in the smartphone market.
All sizzle and no steak. These guys are trying to get attention by releasing a vague headline and letting it fester, claiming they will discuss details tomorrow.
Probably will end up being some crap you have to compile into a device-specific OS image, copy over via USB, and manually install after rebooting into recovery mode.
(Or as iPhone users call it, "jailbreaking")
shawnb posts on Apple Insider. Check.
shawnb actually reads the article before posting. Fail.
Android = The Windows XP of Mobile.
CRAPPY. INSECURE. SECOND-RATE.
Another troll. Sheesh. This time of the anti-Android variety. Rare on this site, but no less annoying than the rabid Fandroids.
It will be interesting the details to install it, if you have to have root acccess on the phone to install it proactively or if it uses som bug to reach it
If is the first, it's a threat as dangerous as rootkit programs for other Nix platforms (Linux, OS X, etc) if it's the later it can be a dangerous threat in the wild.
shawnb posts on Apple Insider. Check.
shawnb actually reads the article before posting. Fail.
Well, in the article is not explained how it is installed
Another troll. Sheesh. This time of the anti-Android variety. Rare on this site, but no less annoying than the rabid Fandroids.
It's not trolling if it's true.
Except they don't and you repeating that Dilger promoted rubbish won't make it true. There's no way to know if any of the thousands of AppStore apps are not doing that exact thing. Or other more dangerous stuff. That's the real problem - people like you believing that Apple is free of such potential risk and assuming that it's only a problem with Apple's opposition.
You need to read more than Dilger's propagandist diatribes if you really want to know what dangers there are. My guess is that you actually don't want to know though, and you'd rather reject reality in order to enjoy taking a shot at those evil Android promoters who you fear are threatening Apple's position in the smartphone market.
Yeah, it's not as if Apple actually tests and approves the apps it tests before it adds them to the App Store. Funny how people call out FUD and then spread some of their own. Apple might not be perfect, but it's funny how the worst example people have of an app getting by Apple is one that adds a secret tethering feature that people actually want. Personally, I'd rather be stuck with apps like that than ones that send my phone number to China.
The story turned out not to be as dire as everybody thought, but it's not as innocent as the fandroids now claim either.
Ohhh... Now That Really Helps, let's just do this to all mobile OS platforms to make your little point.
Note: Yes, They're ALL Vulnerable in one way or another).
Now you sound like the overzealous Apple fan you proclaim to hate. Just reverse the subject to Apple iOS and BINGO! Have fun.
Ohhh... Now That Really Helps, let's just do this to all mobile OS platforms to make your little point.
Note: Yes, They're ALL Vulnerable in one way or another).
ANDROID is WAYYY WAYYYYYYYYY MORE Vulnerable and Insecure than the iPhone.
Android is so insecure its not even funny. Android phones should not be allowed in the enterprise.
Oh really? Android phones are insecure because idiots download spamware apps without reading the security dialog? Yes, reading permissions can be tedious, but at least they're required to SHOW what permissions are accessed. Wasn't there a study that came out within the past few weeks showing that well over 20% of free apps in the iOS app store had access to your contacts and personal information? Do you have an easy way to know which ones do?
Android, like ANY other platform is only as secure as the user. Since the market is a bit more open then there are some additional risks involved, just like with a windows PC, if you decide to search for freeware, you're taking a bigger risk than going to a store and buying only titles they have on CD. That's why android implemented the permissions dialog. IN fact, one of the updates with FROYO is that it will not put in glaring red text if an app you downloaded had updated permissions.
Is it perfect? no. But it never claimed to be.
Secondly, this is a site for Apple related news. Why are you (the OP) posting this on your website? All this kind of trash does is affirm the fanboys who agree with you anyway, and ensure that people who don't will continue to ignore your site.
ANDROID is WAYYY WAYYYYYYYYY MORE Vulnerable and Insecure than the iPhone.
Oh really? You mean that my android phone, without interaction from myself, is somehow less secure than an iphone in the same situation?
The weak point in any security is the user. Apple assumes you're an idiot, so they wall the garden to limit your choices (eliminating security threats, but also a lot of useful things as well). Google assumes that as a whole people are at least a bit intelligent, so they don't wall off the market. Yes, this means some additional danger with those added benefits, but EVERY app has these nice orange tags that tell you exactly what that app does. If you're too stupid/lazy to take the warning, that is YOUR fault.
Unless the exploit comes from something other than user error, it's not an issue with the OS.
My Macs do not have a curated, walled App store... and yet I have never heard of a single legitimate virus/malware threat. The App store has nothing to do with it, other than being a means to protect idiots from themselves.
There is a simple reason for that. There are not enough MACs in use to warrant malicious virus attacks. Who would notice?