Researchers: OS X Lion is more secure than Windows 7 and Ubuntu

July 21, 2011

Blog

Apple‘s new OS X Lion might not be everyone’s cup of tea but one thing has to be said: it’s more secure.mac-malware

We all saw what happened a couple of months ago with the MacDefender malware that was terrorizing Mac users all around. In the future, unfortunately, we’ll see that happening more often.

Apple’s Mac Apple Store is already a very good “firewall”. Digitally downloading the OS and possibly the apps from the App Store, will already create a barrier for viruses.

Apple’s Lion uses some very modern security techniques and researcher are claiming this puts them ahead of Windows 7 and Linux Ubuntu. Apple is finally offering an operating system with a state-of-the-art security protections that make it more resistant to malware exploits and other hack attacks, two researchers say.

The most important addition is the full ASLR (address space layout randomization). “The protection makes it much harder for attackers to exploit bugs by regularly changing the memory location where shell code and other system components are loaded” explained Dino Dai Zovi, principal of security consultancy Trail of Bits and the coauthor of The Mac Hacker’s Handbook.

macbook-airThe other important improvement include security sandboxes that tightly restrict the way applications can interact with other parts of the operating system and full disk encryption that doesn’t interfere with other OS features.

Well done Apple. Personally i think Lion is still a bit too buggy, but in a few months, after Apple’s bug disinfestation, we can talk again.


(Source: The Register)

Address space layout randomization, , , , , , , The Register, Windows 7
  • Dave R.

    Who is saying that Lion is more secure that Ubuntu and Windows 7? If you’re going to make statements like that, please back them up with the relevant source material.

    If you can’t tell us who the independent researchers are, I think you’re making this up.

    • silversurfer

      Hey Dave, i’ve written the researchers: Dino Dai Zovi, principal of security consultancy Trail of Bits and the coauthor of The Mac Hacker’s Handbook
      and also the source: The Register…at the bottom of the page.
      no need to make things up ;)

      • CJ

        first time I’m learning of this ALSR concept, its very interesting. But i doubt it will ever be as secure as ubuntu simply because of the fact that mac and ubuntu maintains their security differently, one is proprietary and the other is open based. mac may be handling their security better than windows, but ubuntu is a open based software, everything is open, even the kernel is open and any programmer skilled enough could adapt and even make their own version of a kernel

        • James

          Open can also be a disadvantage. Imagine giving a copy of your bank’s layout and vault design to bank robbers. Not being transparent can also be an advantage.

          In any case OSX at it’s core is BSD Unix. OSX has many components that benefit by being open or based on open source.

          If anything, don’t install Flash and you dramatically increase your security. Flash is though of as a plugin but it’s really in many ways an operating system, like Java, which come with a whole set of their own security problems.


Free iPod Apps      App Store Download      How to Jailbreak      IPod Touch Free Apps