Apple WiFi vulnerability claims were false

Here's a great way to build some hacker cred: make some serious claims about a major breach of a high-profile product, whip the PR machine (us) into a frenzy, and then fess up to lying about the whole thing. That seems to be the case with the recent claims by SecureWorks of hacking Apple WiFi drivers to expose a MacBook to their whims. Turns out they actually hacked the drivers of a 3rd party wireless device driver, but apparently their desire to shatter that "Mac user base aura of smugness on security" got in the way of the truth. It also looks likes it took a denial from Apple of the whole affair to get them to fess up, Apple hasn't even seen any of the supposed documentation of the hack -- so no brownie points there either.

[Via TUAW, thanks Joshua S.]

[ima9rd @ Aug 18th 2006 7:59PM]

They mentioned that it was only the device drivers for third party wireless cards. Some of the users here at Engadget pointed this little fact out on the original post.

[Yaya @ Aug 18th 2006 8:00PM]

Why would anyone want to hack a mac anyway? That would be like spending time and effort into breaking into a poor person's house... Sure it can be done... but really, who cares?

[Jesse @ Aug 18th 2006 8:05PM]

It's so stupid, why would someone do such a thing? Saying that mac users are smug and blablabla we hacked there system, there's one for ya blabla, instead of doing why they did it in the first place, seeking out software vurnerabilities and report them to the world..

[mcloki @ Aug 18th 2006 8:20PM]

They'll be no living with us Mac users now.
Sense of smugness returning.

[bob @ Aug 18th 2006 8:24PM]

more mac fud? sureley not?!?! oh and Yaya, you are dumb beyond belief

[Ben Mason @ Aug 18th 2006 8:41PM]

I saw their presentation at Defcon (i missout on Black Hat) but in the preso there they made sure to say that they weres breaking MAC OS but the drivers for the usb wireless card they were using....

[Larry The Cable Guy @ Aug 18th 2006 8:57PM]

What kind of Conspiracy or Cover-up is this?, the title is totally misleading and the fact that "turns out they actually hacked the drivers of a 3rd party wireless device driver" was ALWAYS MENTIONED from day one in the article.

One of the first news sites posting the story "Worst Ever: Hijacking a Macbook in 60 Seconds" , link here: http://blog.americasnewstoday.com/2006/08/03/worst-ever-hijacking-a-macbook-in-60-seconds.aspx will tell you all that.

APPLE doesn't build their WiFi drivers, they like any other laptop manufacturers get their WiFi drivers form third party people.

READ the article: http://blog.americasnewstoday.com/2006/08/03/worst-ever-hijacking-a-macbook-in-60-seconds.aspx

[Larry The Cable Guy @ Aug 18th 2006 9:06PM]

What kind of Conspiracy or Cover up is this?, the title is totally misleading, and that "Turns out they actually hacked the drivers of a 3rd party wireless device driver", THAT was ALWAYS mentioned from the first day in the article "Worst Ever: Hijacking a Macbook in 60 Seconds" at: http://blog.americasnewstoday.com/2006/08/03/worst-ever-hijacking-a-macbook-in-60-seconds.aspx


And the picture of Jim Carrey movie I think should reffer to this post.

Apple and ALL other computer manufacturers get their WIFI drivers from third party companies, that is also included in the first artcile. You should take the time to READ the information before SLANDER somebody with lies.

[Drin @ Aug 18th 2006 9:12PM]

Slander is spoken. In print, it's libel.

[Jeff Foster @ Aug 18th 2006 9:14PM]

Most people commenting here seemed to have missed a major point:

they CLAIMED that the vulnerability WILL work on APPLE'S wireless drivers. even though they were using a 3rd party card, they claimed that the airport drivers (and ALL wireless drivers, or some nonsense like that) were also vulnerable.

Really. the point (and i thank Engadget for publishing the followup) is that they flat-out LIED about Apple's airport drivers being vulnerable - which is about the only way they'd get attention. - to say that Macbooks are vulnerable IF using a 3rd party card is retarded, considering the fact that ALL macbooks (every single one) comes with APPLE'S NON VULNERABLE cards/drivers by default, and no amount of idiocy would lead any number of people to USE the vulnerable card, thus making the supposed "vulnerability" threat basically nil.

ahem. anyway, thanks for the followup, engadget. screw those attention-seeking liars.

[Will @ Aug 18th 2006 9:37PM]

Yaya is;

a) poor

b) stupid

c) a closet Mac user

d) ignorant

e) a,b, and d





Ding Ding Ding, E is the correct answer.

[i.p.Freely @ Aug 18th 2006 9:46PM]

My smugness never left... but thanks to these clowns, it has doubled in size...
To think these people actually spent time and effort on this... Did they get paid to do this?

Shit I got a hack for a Macbook, I'm gonna go up to a Mac and reboot it with a install DVD... and change the root password.

There I did it with out any

[Bolo @ Aug 18th 2006 10:15PM]

You're 120% right, Will

[Joe @ Aug 18th 2006 10:42PM]

You and others were whipped up into a frenzy because you didn't check the facts and verify the accuracy of the claim before publishing the information. This is a major drawback of the internet and blogs specifically. Everyone is more interested in publishing content in the next twelve minutes rather than providing the real story backed up by verifiable facts. Of course you can't help that people lie, but you also didn't have to promote it so quickly without some reputable verification.

[cody @ Aug 18th 2006 11:02PM]

jim carrey used a powerbook circa 1992 in this movie hows that for useless mac knowledge

[Aaron @ Aug 18th 2006 11:03PM]

What people have failed to mention is how this was reported in the first place:
1. A Washington Post blogger posts "Hacking a Macbook" when the hack could've been done on any machine with the proper wireless card.
2. After his journalistic integrity (read: none) was called into question, the blogger posted again, saying that the "hackers" would've used the Airport card but Apple pressed them into not using it. No quotes and no verified sources made it a hard sell.

Now we get to see that Apple wasn't involved in any of this garbage and the "hackers" were full of crap. I could've blasted Windows and how easy it is to hack, but Microsoft called me up and told me not to so as to give them a chance to fix the bugs. Waiting......

[Jamie @ Aug 19th 2006 12:19AM]

Pardon me, but I have to be smug right now. I am a VERY proud mac user. Why everyone doesnt have a mac is beyond me. Oh, wait, they can't afford it. Man, it sucks to be you. O.K., I am done being a tight a**, I am gonna go log on to some questionable websites that I will NEVER have the nerve to log onto with a windows based pc. IN YOUR FACE!!!

[Joshua S @ Aug 19th 2006 1:25AM]

Paul, I appreciate the fact that you reported this yourself. Thanks. ;)

[Andrew Coleman @ Aug 19th 2006 1:31AM]

I'm a Mac user, and I'm personally all for folks trying to find exploits in Apple hardware and software, so long as they make them public. I think a lot of people fail to recognize that one of Apple's strengths in terms of security is their response time to these sorts of things. It seems to me, at least, that Apple tries to push out security updates as often as possible, which is something I've really come to appreciate (and, thankfully, Microsoft has really started doing the same thing, so Windows is more secure these days, too).

It's silly, though, when people try to do this stuff because they think Apple users deserve to be taught a lesson, or something. Honestly, it's just as dumb as someone creating a virus for Windows, because they think that Windows users are ignorant and deserve to be punished for it. The only legitimate reason to research hacks, exploits, etc. is out of a desire to get those problems fixed, so that computers in general are more secure. Otherwise, you're simply a shortsighted, self-righteous computer hacker (or whatever term you want to use) who has deluded him/herself into thinking he/she has a rational sense of right and wrong.

[LukeA @ Aug 19th 2006 1:43AM]

Well said, Andrew Coleman.

[Mr.E. @ Aug 19th 2006 1:44AM]

"...to hack a mac...would be like...breaking into a poor person's house... Sure it can be done... but...who cares?"

The difference Yaya is that breaking into a poor person's house (to use your distasteful analogy) is very very easy, while this follow-up shows that this is NOT the case for a Mac. At least not without been a totally disingenuous dick.

[Wim L @ Aug 19th 2006 3:31AM]

Huh? *Every* article I read on this hack mentioned that they were attacking the third-party drivers on a Mac laptop. I guess if you only read the headlines but not the text, you might miss that bit of information...

[Larry The Cable Guy @ Aug 19th 2006 5:56AM]

Pardon me, but I have to be smug right now. I am a VERY proud mac user. Why everyone doesnt have a mac is beyond me. Oh, wait, they can't afford it. Man, it sucks to be you. O.K., I am done being a tight a**, I am gonna go log on to some questionable websites that I will NEVER have the nerve to log onto with a windows based pc. IN YOUR FACE!!! by Jamie

Dude, you know NOTHING about systems, hacking or laptops.

There are laptops faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar much more powerfull and expensive than any mac today.

The reason why Hackers don't pay attention to Macs is because they don't care.

Final, dude you can connect to the internet today, thanks to MICROSOFT, and THAT is a fact.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Aug 19th 2006 6:57AM]

I'm just happy to see Engadget finally admit they are part of the Apple PR machine.

[Mark @ Aug 19th 2006 7:10AM]

Larry,

I was unaware the Microsoft created the internet. Oh wait, they didn't. Maybe it was the TCP/IP protocols? No, does not seem they developed those single handedly either.

Many people and oranizations over many year worked to shape the internet and the applications that enable us to take advantage of it.

[deslock @ Aug 19th 2006 7:59AM]

> Posted at 5:56AM on Aug 19th 2006 by Larry The Cable Guy [ ! ]
>
> The reason why Hackers don't pay attention to Macs is
> because they don't care.
>
> Final, dude you can connect to the internet today, thanks
> to MICROSOFT, and THAT is a fact.

There are several reasons Macs aren't over-run with viruses, spyware, and worms like Windows is. It's partly market-share but mostly that OS X is a fundamentally more secure OS. Now it's not invulnerable and Mac users shouldn't be too smug, but anyone who dismisses OS X's superior security model compared to Windows is delusional.

As far as your assertion that "it's thanks to Microsoft" that we "can connect to the internet today", that's wildly inaccurate. Computers were connecting to the internet well before Microsoft existed and when the world wide web made the Internet mainstream in 1994/1995, Microsoft had almost nothing to do with it.

In fact, Microsoft admitted that when they developed Windows 95, they had "Email" on the list of potential features to include, but they decided it wasn't important and chose to leave it out.

[kicktd @ Aug 19th 2006 8:09AM]

Oh and on another note I watched the video of this hack and they clearly said it was with 3rd party hardware and drivers ON a MAC, not Apples.

[rickm @ Aug 19th 2006 8:37AM]

>Final, dude you can connect to the internet today, >thanks to MICROSOFT, and THAT is a fact.

What planet are you from? Who said that "The internet is a fad, it’s not really relevant to our core business." It wasn't Jobs.

>It's partly market-share but mostly that OS X is a >fundamentally more secure OS.

Bingo, as are pretty much are all the *nixes.

[H the Preacherman @ Aug 19th 2006 8:51AM]

I liked how the anti-Apple people were all in favour of showing how Macs were just as vulnerable as PCs, shouting from the rooftops, removing the 'smugness' of Mac users, how this was finally proof that Macs were crap etc...

I also like how that now the story's been dismissed as untrue, those same anti-Apple people are now saying nobody cares. Well you did.

[H the Preacherman @ Aug 19th 2006 8:58AM]

Larry the Cable Guy - did you know that Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the world wide web, the first server, browser and editor on a NeXTcube; Steve Jobs' computer company after he left Apple in the mid-80s, and where the NeXTSTEP OS is the basis of Mac OS X today? Using a phrase you seem so keen to use, "THAT is a fact".

I'm not as read-up on Microsoft, so I'd genuinely like to see where Microsoft has made any real contribution to the development of the internet/ web that's led us to where we are today.

[Larry The Cable Guy @ Aug 19th 2006 9:17AM]

"Larry the Cable Guy - did you know that Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the world wide web, the first server, browser and editor on a NeXTcube; Steve Jobs' computer company after he left Apple in the mid-80s, and where the NeXTSTEP OS is the basis of Mac OS X today? Using a phrase you seem so keen to use, "THAT is a fact".

I'm not as read-up on Microsoft, so I'd genuinely like to see where Microsoft has made any real contribution to the development of the internet/ web that's led us to where we are today." by H the Preacherman.

I never said Microsoft invented the internet, you MAC-flipfloppers

Yes, I do know about Sir Tim Berners-Lee, I read news sites as well, not just the technology sites like you.

Check this article about Sir Tim Berners-Lee here:
http://blog.americasnewstoday.com/2006/05/24/sir-timothy-tim-john-bernerslee-is-the-inventor-of-the-world-wide-web-and-director-of-the-world-wide-web-consortium.aspx

He invented the internet but Microsoft made what we all know TODAY about the internet, without microsoft we all be using DOS OS and THAT is a fact.

MAC had been exposed for what it is, just another Linux-like system that with the wish of two guys, took 60 seconds to brake down, THAT is another fact.

[Larry The Cable Guy @ Aug 19th 2006 9:27AM]

"There are several reasons Macs aren't over-run with viruses, spyware, and worms like Windows is. It's partly market-share but mostly that OS X is a fundamentally more secure OS. Now it's not invulnerable and Mac users shouldn't be too smug, but anyone who dismisses OS X's superior security model compared to Windows is delusional" by deslock

Nop, your the delusional - Hacker don't care about another Microsoft wanna-be OS.

I rather keep Microsoft and download patches then use a 100% spyware OS like Apple;

Check this out:
Article titled: "Apple's 10.4.7 Update Also Phones Home Like 'ET'"

Article: "Apple's program verifies whether the widgets present in the dashboard is authentic by sending an HTTP GET command to Apple's servers every 8 hours"


Link:
http://blog.americasnewstoday.com/2006/07/07/apples-1047-update-also-phones-home-like-et.aspx

[Larry The Cable Guy's Mother @ Aug 19th 2006 9:43AM]

Lawrence:

Quit being a Microsoft Fanboi or I'll cut off your AOL account and you won't be able to watch The Wiggles anymore.

Love,
Mom

[H the Preacherman @ Aug 19th 2006 9:49AM]

Larry - er, nowhere did I claim that you said Microsoft invented the internet. Your claim that Microsoft made it possible for us to connect to the internet makes out that they made some contribution to it's development.

I asked for some evidence of this, not just another statement from you proclaiming that "Microsoft made what we all know TODAY about the internet" with nothing to back this up. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that MS developed the tag, but I can't remember the source.

"I read news sites as well, not just the technology sites like you." Again, any evidence to back up your claim that I only read technology sites?

All level-headed people know that no OS is invulnerable, and Mac OS X is no exception. Repeatedly backing up your statements with "THAT is a fact" though is not a replacement for actual evidence/ source.

[H the Preacherman @ Aug 19th 2006 9:54AM]

"I vaguely remember reading somewhere that MS developed the tag, but I can't remember the source."

That was meant to read as "iframe tag".

If you want to use MS and "100% spyware", then go for it. And for your statement that Mac OS X (not as you say "MAC" as in the actual computers themselves) has been "exposed for what it is", er... you make it sound like such a big deal - have you ever thought about being a journalist on a sensationalist news channel?

[rdrr @ Aug 19th 2006 10:44AM]

Microcrap wasn't a major player and only woke up when they relized they fell asleep... Remember who was the major web browser in the early 90's? It was Netscape. Then MS saw that they missed a major opertunity and put major $$ into a sub-par web browser and did a PR campain to even change history.

Watch what happens to the Google/MS wars of this generation. Soon we may have a new set of MS fans claiming that MS innovated the Search engine, and all others are just followers.

[RJR @ Aug 19th 2006 11:45AM]

So what you're trying to say is that Al Gore didn't invent the internet? I must have missed something...

[Pok� @ Aug 19th 2006 12:05PM]

Hi guys! TO add fuel to this fire of debate that is getting very amusing
http://www.smallworks.com/archives/00000461.htm

[i.p.Freely @ Aug 19th 2006 12:17PM]

Hey, Larry the Cable Guy, I guess you reach for anything when you know you ain't got shit!

"Nop, your the delusional - Hacker don't care about another Microsoft wanna-be OS."

They do hack Linux boxes, or you didn't know that? So what are you stupid or just blind MS Hillbilly?

"I rather keep Microsoft and download patches then use a 100% spyware OS like Apple;

Check this out:
Article titled: "Apple's 10.4.7 Update Also Phones Home Like 'ET'"

Article: "Apple's program verifies whether the widgets present in the dashboard is authentic by sending an HTTP GET command to Apple's servers every 8 hours""

OH that is so precious! Isn't it cute when MS troll try to be serious about security. Ever hear the term "People in glass house shouldn't throw stones".

It means "You shouldn’t complain about others if you are as bad as they are."

Instead of just linking article, tell us what it actually means to you, or are you too stupid to understand what the article really means?

People like you are pathetic, you link to an article but have no f-ing idea what they are talking about but rehash them as some sort of doomsday message. Know what you are talking about before you shoot your mouth off. And you have a pretty piss poor record of it so far in this forum.

[Darcy McGee @ Aug 19th 2006 1:53PM]

Tim Berners Lee didn't invent the Internet, he create the http protocol.

Al Gore invented the Internet.

[begbie @ Aug 19th 2006 4:24PM]

I'm not a fanboy of either company but if Macs are so invulnerable, wouldn't Apple flaunt this fact and try to woo the entire business community into switching over? This would dramaticially increase their market share of 5%.

[Ian @ Aug 19th 2006 5:37PM]

RE: "Berners Lee": leave it to clueless iDrones to not know the difference between the internet and the web. There was an internet before there were web sites and web servers to host them.

Macs are still overpriced and under powered. And yes they are more secure, but it is security through obscurity rather than some fundamental architectural superiority.

As to BillGs "internet is a fad" remark. OMG!11ONE!!1 someone made a mistake! At least, unlike iDrones, he was man enough to admit he made a mistake, then aimed MSFTs total might in dominating the net. MSFT fucked up, didn't see the net coming and still managed to change course and dominate it. End of story.

Ahhh, I enjoy nothing more than watching the anit-MSFT crowd whine and snivel and then call their lawyers because they're too stupid to beat MSFT at The Game. Can't win? Then sue and whine to the government! If you're lucky you can get that socialist paradise the EU to extort a few billion out of MSFT for you and after they blow most of it on hookers and blow maybe they'll be some left over for you.

[H the Preacherman @ Aug 19th 2006 7:10PM]

Ian - please find where us "clueless iDrones" said Berners-Lee created the internet.

I think you'll find it was Larry the Cable Guy (ie like yourself, someone else also with a grudge against so-called iDrones/ Mac users) who said Sir Tim created the internet; not the other way around.

Clueless, indeed.

[i.p.Freely @ Aug 19th 2006 11:56PM]

Ian, another retard, feeding at the teats of MS.

"Macs are still overpriced and under powered. And yes they are more secure, but it is security through obscurity rather than some fundamental architectural superiority. "

Well how are they overpriced and underpowered? What do you base you opinion on? Even die-hard PC users know that this is no longer true. you know who says stupid shit like what you said... Uneducated morons who have hatred against Macs. You are nothing more than a Windows Drone who used argument that has been debunked and disproved. Come up with something original or at least creative.

And as this article have shown, Mac's have superior architecture, you don't think these security experts haven't tried to hack a mac? they have all tried and so far none have come up with something that worked. So all these people who have hacked a Windows too stupid or Windows easier to hack? I think it's the latter.

And using your argument, security by obscurity is still better defense than using a swiss cheese OS called windows. So you're actually stupid to use Windows.

People like you are using the same illogical reasoning that racist use to denigrate something they know nothing about.

If you are going to say something about Macs, know somthing about it. And not spout some bullshit party line "Mac's are under powered and over priced." "Security by obscurity". You retard!

[keith waddington @ Aug 20th 2006 2:41AM]

This thread rapidly gets silly.
Obviously they used a Mac because cracking a Windows machine would not get them in the news.
Obviously they were dishonest to a certain extent. No-matter what they initially said the implication was they hacked a Mac, which they didn't.
Obviously Macs are more secure because OS X is a new OS designed to be secure.
Obviously Macs will be more secure for the foreseeable future, for the same reason.
Obviously no-one knows how long Mac will remain 100% secure. But certainly not forever.

Now really, where is the need for any argument? The facts are all obvious.

I use my computer to create stuff. It seems most of you use computers simply to argue about computers. Is it really so fun?

peace
waddo
http://www.waddo.net/

[Lenny @ Aug 20th 2006 8:38PM]

Forget Tim, Forget Al Gore.

True internet inventors?

Bolt, Beranek and Newman.

http://www.answers.com/topic/bolt-beranek-and-newman

First IP router, Developers of TCP, Fathers of the Arpanet, which grew up to be teh interweb we all know and love.

But microsoft had little impact on the web in its early years. I still remember dialing into servers and surfing with lynx. back in the good ol' SLIP days :)

[Dave the great @ Aug 21st 2006 12:22AM]

OK, I'm not even going to engage Larry and his mate's stupidity. As for the conversation about MS and the Internet, what they have done is removed quite a bit of the open nature of the Internet by using proprietary tags in IE shit, and forcing us to use it for many of the big banks website. My favorite part is that my banks website actually doesn't work when using IE, so I'm forced to use Firefox, or Safari. Which work perfectly.

The whole Mac security conversation. Security by obscurity. Tired and boring explanation for something that is inherantly more complicated. Just because my house isn't in an area with a higher crime rate, doesn't make it less secure. And I certainly wouldn't rely on that to keep my place secure. I use locks and alarm systems, much as you do on a computer. If I know that a system is more secure than another, even though it's not going to be tested heavily, I will still use it on the basis that it may change.

Keep using your supposedly inexpensive, and certainly insecure OS Larry and friends. I will stay in my nice suburb, using my nice not so expensive and certainly more secure Mac, and laugh at your stupidity. And yes, I'm probably much bigger than you as well, so if you wanted to steal my Mac (which I think you secretly do!!!), you better come prepared ;-)

[chenry @ Aug 21st 2006 6:54AM]

I remember people bringing up that fact in the comments section of the original post.

[Kurt Hutchison @ Jul 8th 2007 8:06PM]

Is it me, or is the air getting thick with stupid? I watch sites like this to find out Mac news about security and MS compatibilty, because I have to work with Windows users and all I'm seeing is planted microsoft ranters and Apple people foolishly engaging them in debate over lies and outdated infromation. It's like a smear compaign Microsoft doesn't have to pay an ad agency a cent for, because thier fans are so easily frightened and worked up, all they have to do is read one planted anti Apple article or blog and thier off on a tangent similar in reaction level, denial and hate to the arguments presented by racists over integration, or creationists vs evolutionists. What the hell has become so important to Microsoft users that they're willing to lie, fabricate and insult thier way through every topic, just to justify thier purchase? Just use the damn OS and shut up, if you have nothing good to say. People who pursue this line of engagement have made it impossible to find any sort of common ground, where users of both OS's can exchange news and information. I use both OS's and I have most of life. I own a Mac, personally. It's the best machine I have ever owned, hands down. It fits for everything I do. This, I assume, is also why Windows users own thier machines. Isn't that enough, or do we continue chest thumping over complete B.S.?