OSXFAQ - Mac OS X Security 

Why You Should Care About Mac OS X Security.

By Thomas Vincent - OSXFAQ Security Instructor

In the pre-Mac OS 9 days you never had to worry about security. If you were worried, then you went out and bought OpenDoor or some other software like IPNetRouter. Then you sat back knowing that there was little to no chance that someone could hurt you electronically. The US. Army and several departments within the Department of Defense even figured this out. After trying, with Microsoft's recommendations, to secure Windows NT, and failing. Apple won these departments web server business because Mac OS 9 was that secure. When Apple adopted a Unix operating system, they knew they had to err on the side of caution.

Mac OS X is a Unix operating system, which brings with it many advantages, and disadvantages. If not handled properly, one of the disadvantages of Unix can be security. I am happy to say that Apple has done a, by the book job, when it comes to securing Mac OS X out of the box. There is no reason to feel unsettled by security fears when plugging in a Mac OS Xmachine out of the box. That being said, no matter how many precautions you take, you simply cannot make it possible to fully secure a machine. Just make it secure enough, that cracking it would never be worth the effort of the most seasoned cracker (cracker is the term for a malicious hacker, who uses his/her hacking skills for malicious purposes.)

Your Mac OS X machine has several process's running on it. Programs that run on your computer create these processes. These programs tell other programs how to run the hard drive, or retrieve email or surf the web. One mistake in the source code (the blueprint of a computer program) of these programs, and the processes that make up the programs are vulnerable to getting cracked. It doesn't matter if that mistake has been there for 20 years, or 1 year. It is just a matter of time before a cracker finds it. That brings us to another method Apple has done, to make itself more secure. Apple has open sourced 95% of Mac OS X. Apple has released the blue prints to its operating system for the world to see. This holds Apple to a higher standard, then other operating systems that do not open their source code (like Windows, or some commercial Unix's.) Because Apple has open sourced its code, any individual anywhere can pore over it. Any individual or organization can pop the hood of the operating system and take a look. This openness forces Apple to double its security efforts. It is Apple's way of saying, "Hey burglar, I am so confident in my house, here are the blueprints, and specs for my security system. You know what, you still can't break in."

Right about now you are probably thinking. "Wow, I didn't know Mac OS X was so secure. I have nothing to worry about." WRONG! Apple has done its part, in making the computing world safe and secure. It is everyone else running a computer in the world, and everyone else between you and the machine (web server, email server, etc) you are communicating with that is the problem. You can only be sure about one thing, your own system. Even then how can you be sure, you don't know what you are dong. The same way open source says "don't take my word for it, look for yourself." You shouldn't take anyone else's word for it either. You should be able to say, my machine is secure. Why, because I know it is. That is what these upcoming series of articles are about, security. You can read these articles, and or take my class, and or preferably both. You can be sure your system is secure, not because, I say so. Or anyone else says so. But, because you have gained the knowledge, that you are confident enough to make that statement.

We will go over more Mac OS X security issues in the days & weeks to come.

Thanks

Thomas

Thomas Vincent is a leading authority on Mac OS X Security. E-mail comments to feedback@osxfaq.com