January 29, 2004
Macs and the FBI
In this column on SecurityFocus.com, Scott Granneman reviews computer security through the eyes of an FBI agent named Dave Thomas. (No, not this Dave Thomas, or this one.)
Viruses help spread Trojans, and Trojans are used to turn unsuspecting users' computers into spam factories, or hosts for phishing expeditions, and thus furthering the spread of all the elements in this process: viruses, Trojans, spam, and phishing. It's a vicious cycle, and unfortunately, it appears to be getting worse.The whole article is an interesting and eye-opening read, but I want to draw your attention to two paragraphs that address the security of Mac OS X.
Posted by Sandy at 12:45 PM
[Dave] told us that many of the computer security folks back at FBI HQ use Macs running OS X, since those machines can do just about anything: run software for Mac, Unix, or Windows, using either a GUI or the command line. And they're secure out of the box. In the field, however, they don't have as much money to spend, so they have to stretch their dollars by buying WinTel-based hardware. Are you listening, Apple? The FBI wants to buy your stuff. Talk to them!You can read the complete article here.Dave also had a great quotation for us: "If you're a bad guy and you want to frustrate law enforcement, use a Mac." Basically, police and government agencies know what to do with seized Windows machines. They can recover whatever information they want, with tools that they've used countless times. The same holds true, but to a lesser degree, for Unix-based machines. But Macs evidently stymie most law enforcement personnel. They just don't know how to recover data on them. So what do they do? By and large, law enforcement personnel in American end up sending impounded Macs needing data recovery to the acknowledged North American Mac experts: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Evidently the Mounties have built up a knowledge and technique for Mac forensics that is second to none.
Dang, so are we Canadians supposed to buy Windows machines then? I always thought "mounted" referred to their riding of horses, but sounds like they prefer to mount (Mac) hard drives now.....
Posted by Jim on January 29, 2004 05:02 PM | Permalink to Comment