It’s inevitable as Apple products become more and more popular they will get targeted by the bad guys. Count on more viruses, malware, exploits and rootkits for Apple Operating Systems.

They are a bit behind in the curve as they don’t have a formal security program and it’s unknown if they use secure development practices (they seem to focus more on interface design than anything else).

Something has to be done though or the next big botnet could be running on Apple machines.

A well-known security consultant says Apple is struggling to effectively protect its users against malware and other online threats and suggests executives improve by adopting a secure development lifecycle to design its growing roster of products.

“Based on a variety of sources, we know that Apple does not have a formal security program, and as such fails to catch vulnerabilities that would otherwise be prevented before product releases,” writes Rich Mogull, founder of security firm Securosis and a self-described owner of seven Macs. “To address this lack, Apple should integrate secure software development into all internal development efforts.”

Microsoft was among the first companies to integrate an SDL into its internal development routine. Under the program, products are built from the ground up with security in mind, so that poorly written sections of older code are replaced with code that can better withstand attack. It also subjects programs to a variety of simulated attacks. Adobe Systems recently beefed up the SDL program for Reader and Acrobat following criticism about the security of those two programs.

With their fairly rapid development and pumping out of new product lines (Apple TV, Mac Mini etc) they are going to face security problems at some point.

That’s without considering the Internet connected mobile devices (iPhone, iPod touch).

Adobe has taken notice too with it’s recent spate of exploits and improved its Secure Development Lifecycle to ensure future problems are minimized.

Mogull’s suggestion was one of five he made recently to ensure company is doing everything it should to safeguard its customers.

“It’s clear that that Apple considers security important, but that the company also struggles to execute effectively when faced with security challenges,” he writes in a recent article on Mac news website Tidbits. He goes on to fault the company for its ongoing failure to patch a gaping security hole in Mac versions of Java.

The suggestions came as Apple on Monday announced Safari 4.0, a release that fixes more than 50 vulnerabilities in the browser. Protection against clickjacking attacks, denial-of-service flaws and bugs that allow for remote code execution were among the fare.

Another suggestion from Mogull is that Apple appoint and empower a high-ranking executive to oversee security in all Apple products. The CSO, or chief security officer, would serve as the public face for Apple security as well as the internal boss who coordinates the company’s response to security incidents and development of new products that are safe.

I believe Apple is indeed need of a solid CSO, one that can implement more proactive measures against security flaws such as secure development, a dedicated response and research team for vulnerabilities and spearhead a generally more responsible organisation when it comes to security concerns.

Obviously to fit into Apple it has to be someone charismatic that can ‘sell’ the benefits of Apples ‘iSecurity’ system or whatever they are gonna call it.

I’m sure they’ll find some way to spin whatever security measures they take into a marketing exercise.

Source: The Register

You right remember in March last year we posted about Charlie Miller at the PWN2OWN contest owning the MacBook Air in under 2 minutes.

Guess what? He’s done it again! This time though he’s even faster clocking in at under 10 seconds. No one else stood a chance. He walked off with the prize again, $5000 and the MacBook that he hacked.

Of course he wrote the exploit before hand, but still impressive!

Charlie Miller, a security researcher who hacked a Macintosh in two minutes last year at CanSecWest’s PWN2OWN contest, improved his time today by breaking into another Macintosh in under 10 seconds.

Miller, an analyst at Independent Security Evaluators in Baltimore, walked off with a $5,000 cash prize and the MacBook he hacked.

“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.

It guess it might be a Safari exploit, but I guess if you keep your ears open you’ll hear about it soon enough.

I wonder if he’ll be able to pull the same trick again next year, with his record so far I’d say it wouldn’t be a large stretch of imagination.

The PWN2OWN rules stated that the researcher could provide a URL that hosted his exploit, replicating the common hacker tactic of enticing users to malicious sites where they are infected with malware. “I gave them the link, they clicked on it, and that was it,” said Miller. “I did a few things to show that I had full control of the Mac.”

Two weeks ago, Miller predicted that Safari running on the Macintosh would be the first to fall.

PWN2OWN’s sponsor, 3Com Corp.’s TippingPoint unit, paid Miller $5,000 for the rights to the vulnerability he exploited and the exploit code he used. As it has at past challenges, it reported the vulnerability to on-site Apple representatives. “Apple has it, and they’re working on it,” added Miller.

Interestingly another researcher later broke into a Sony laptop that was running Windows 7 by exploiting a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 8. So Safari and IE8 both fell!

What with all the claims from Microsoft that IE8 is so secure…I guess that pissed on their bonfire didn’t it?

This year’s PWN2OWN also has a section for mobile operating systems, the prize is larger too at $10,000. If you want to join you can have a crack at Windows Mobile, Google’s Android, Symbian, and the operating systems used by the iPhone and BlackBerry.

Source: Computer World (Thanks Navin)