Is it true that Mac OS X was hacked in under 20 seconds
- Thread starter Feras91
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It is true, however, it was done in a controlled environment...it was set up as a challenge to see who could hack it first. They gave them a server to take control of. There are many factors that can play a role in this hack, such things as their own server security is unknown. It also took 20-30 minutes to get into the computer, not 20 seconds. There is also speculation that it was setup by microsoft, who also downloaded windows backdoors to allow people to enter once they found it. I Highly doubt anyone has anything to really worry about!
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Yes and no.
Yes, Mac OS X was "hacked" during a contest.... but only after the contest organizers removed any security measures and the "hackers" were given direct and local client access to the machine they were "hacking".
In other words, in a real world environment they would not have been successful and the answer would be "No".
Also, this took place 3 OS versions and as many years ago.
The exploits used by the "hackers" (which only worked when organizers purposely and deliberately crippled security features of the OS ahead of time) have long since been patched.
Yes, Mac OS X was "hacked" during a contest.... but only after the contest organizers removed any security measures and the "hackers" were given direct and local client access to the machine they were "hacking".
In other words, in a real world environment they would not have been successful and the answer would be "No".
Also, this took place 3 OS versions and as many years ago.
The exploits used by the "hackers" (which only worked when organizers purposely and deliberately crippled security features of the OS ahead of time) have long since been patched.
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This is true! Why would they dumb down the security though? Would it be too tough? It didn't really make sense when I first read some time ago...
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It is not hard to guess what they were after these so-called 'contest organizers'. And they got all their free publicity too! From memory coincided with the release of Vista.
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What fun would it be, and how much press would it get, if the hackers got no where. If all else fails, rig the test for the press release.
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The last hack contest I read about, the dood (Miller) had it all worked out before he ever attended the PWN2OWN contest. Here is a quote.
"I can't talk about the details of the vulnerability, but it was a Mac, fully patched, with Safari, fully patched," said Miller on Wednesday, not long after he had won the prize. "It probably took five or 10 seconds." He confirmed that he had researched and written the exploit before he arrived at the challenge."
In other words he worked with it for days, weeks even months then came and did it in the short time. He just did not walk in off the street and hack a mac in 10 seconds.
"I can't talk about the details of the vulnerability, but it was a Mac, fully patched, with Safari, fully patched," said Miller on Wednesday, not long after he had won the prize. "It probably took five or 10 seconds." He confirmed that he had researched and written the exploit before he arrived at the challenge."
In other words he worked with it for days, weeks even months then came and did it in the short time. He just did not walk in off the street and hack a mac in 10 seconds.
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Most exploits operate in similar time frames... once they're known about, and left unpatched or otherwise nullified by the administrator.
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