Finisterre about Mac Security and the MoAB Project

Feb 21, 2007 10:46 GMT  ·  By

Mac users seem to be giving little, if any attention to security issues regarding the Mac OS X. The idea of Macs being completely safe and untouchable by threat has grown so deeply in the Mac users' mind that they never worry about security. Furthermore, Apple, through its sales representatives, reinforces this not necessarily true belief that Macs are not corruptible.

This is part of what made independent researcher Kevin Finisterre think so much about Mac security as to put together the Month of Apple Bugs website. Alongside an anonymous researcher, Finisterre released each day of January a bug For Mac OS X or its Apps. Apple has put work in fixing the security issues discovered delivering Security Updates.

The researchers behind the MoAB project say they have reached their goal of raising awareness around Mac security issues and they are pleased to see Apple is very responsive regarding this matter. "They have certainly given some extra efforts on the backend to open up lines of communication, at least with me", said the researcher.

Kevin Finisterre says he has no plans of continuing the MoAB project at the moment, his decision being justified by financial reasons. He said he would happily move along with the project if someone were to invest and support his efforts.

Now that Apple agreed to give more thought to security matters, its time users did the same. It's true you probably will never be affected by security threats on your Mac, at least not as much as you would on a PC, but do not take this for granted. The Mac OS X is not perfect and all its minor flaws can be exploited by anyone with enough skills and patience. Well, this being said, let's all return to our 99.9999% protected little world.

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