There’s been a lot of talk over the last few days over Safari 3.1 which is Apple’s web browser. It was released last week to both Mac and PC users via Apple’s Software Update mechanism (which Apple users have as part of OS X and Windows users get when they install an Apple application such as iTunes). What’s generated the discussion is not how fast it is or how much better it is than Internet Explorer. The source of the discussion is the fact tat Safari is showing up in the Software Update panels of Windows users who have never installed the application. That doesn’t sound like an update to me. This has Mozilla CEO John Lilly irate as evidenced in this blog posting. Here’s a quote from the post in question:
“Apple has made it incredibly easy-the default, even-for users to install ride along software that they didn’t ask for, and maybe didn’t want. This is wrong, and borders on malware distribution practices… It’s wrong because it undermines the trust that we’re all trying to build with users. Because it means that an update isn’t just an update, but is maybe something more. Because it ultimately undermines the safety of users on the Web by eroding that relationship. It’s a bad practice and should stop.“
I can see his point. Mozilla cranks out FireFox after all, so it’s understandable that he’d be ticked off. But I’d like to point out two things:
- There is a checkmark next to the Safari entry (check the blog posting I referenced earlier for a picture) which gives users the choice to install it. Granted, most users are from the “click next without reading” school of computer usage, so it is likely that they would just install it without thinking about it. Still, the choice is there.
- Steve Jobs gave fair warning that he was going to do this. Granted, “Joe Enduser” doesn’t keep up to date with what “The Steve” says, but nobody had any issue with it at the time. So why whine about it now?
I think what needs to happen is people need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and pay attention to what you’re installing regardless of who it comes from. Computer users need to take responsibility for their computing environments rather than passing that off to someone else. Users really have to understand how their computers work so that this sort of thing isn’t an issue. Take it from someone who does tech support for a living: If you simply just install anything that appears on your screen without understanding what the program in question does, you are asking for trouble. Period.
So…. Is Apple Forcing Safari Down The Throats Of PC Users? Maybe. But that doesn’t absolve you of making the decision to install it or not.
Apple Safari Is Secure…. NOT!
Posted in Commentary, Security with tags Apple, exploit, Hacked, PWNED, Safari on March 28, 2008 by itnerdThere’s a hacking contest that’s part of CanSecWest going on right now in Vancouver BC and for the second year in a row, a Mac was the first to be hacked. Charlie Miller who is best known for hacking the iPhone, cracked a MacBook Air with nothing but OS X installed in under two minutes by having contest organizers visit a website that contained his exploit code. That code allowed him to take control of the computer and score him the MacBook Air and $10,000. That implies that the hole that he exploited is in the Safari browser, but we won’t know for a while as he has signed a NDA to allow Apple to fix the hole. Last year Shane Macaulay used a Safari hole to score himself a MacBook, so clearly Safari is not as secure as Apple thinks it is. That’s a great reason to switch to FireFox now to protect yourself in the short term (assuming that you don’t already use FireFox) until Apple fixes it. But it really shoots a hole into Apple’s claim that “Apple engineers designed Safari to be secure from day one.” (go to www.apple.com/safari and click Security on the left hand side)
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