Hacker Proof

[higrob]

I have been debating with someone on another forum about installing firewalls,anti-viruses,etc.

He contends that he doesn't need such items as he is running a Mac.I'm a relative beginner,but I have my doubts when he states that he is "hacker-proof".

Is there any way that I can convince him that he is not immune from hackers or viruses?

Here is his last statement to me:

"Nope. My computer is 100% hackerproof, static ip, always on, no "protection". The only thing I can't guard against is floodpinging my connection and that isn't hacking, anyways."

 

[higrob]

Also,what would be about the most "hacker-proof" you could make a hard drive running windows?

And how?

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

What OS is he talking about OS X or previous versions?

The previous versions only have a few viruses, however he is NOT immune to security holes in any Microsoft software he has, or any other program that accesses the internet. As far as being able to hack, I would NEVER say 100% hackproof, but I do believe I heard something one time about it being much harder to hack. I would search the internet on Hacking and Macintosh. This should turn up some stuff.

If he is using OS X then he is just as vulernable as any other Linux/Unix box out there. He MUST set up a firewall for that. And any other protection that a good Linux/Unix admin would do. Mike Wills
RPG Programmer (but learning Java)

"I am bad at math because God forgot to include math.h into my program!"

 

[nubbie26]

I have found by connecting a router to your internet connection and to your PC it keep alot more people out of your system. This however is not 100%, but it is added protection with a firewall.

 

[rycamor]

Yes, there are some important differences in "hackability". The traditional Mac OS does not even have a command shell, so it's not like someone could get command-level access to the system, the way one might hack a Unix or Windows NT server.

As Koldark says, that will change with OS X, which has a full Unix command shell.

However, with Mac OS 9 and earlier, the problem is not so much getting "hacked" as getting a virus. Most of the time this is how a windows system gets hacked also. It's not a question of an intruder specifically targeting your machine and running password guessers, etc...

Instead the virus creator waits for you to download a certain file from a shareware site or an email attachment from a friend. That file will contain a virus which then uses some very roundabout methods of alerting the virus creator that there is a machine waiting for some commands to execute. Often this is done through anonymous IRC "chat-bots". Thus the hacker and the hacked computer never communicate directly. The hacker merely logs into a private chat room, where the chat-bot is already waiting. The hacker then enters a message, which the chat-bot is programmed to interpret as a command, for example to start sending ping commands to another website in a DoS attack.

Also, some pretty crazy things can be done just by embedding the right Javascript into a webpage viewed by Internet Explorer.

It's a crazy, complicated world, when you start talking about this stuff, and no system is completely immune. Yes, I would say the Mac is less likely to get compromised, simply because the crackers have concentrated on Windows, where there is a better return for their investment, with the mass of users out there. But in the end, if you don't protect yourself with virus software, you will sooner or later get something you don't want.