: Mac's still running pretty smoothly, but have been
: experiencing trouble with Netscape 4x since disabling the
: Idletime extension & the FullCircle reporting software
: that came with NS. I also disabled and trashed AOL Instant
: Messenger. Navigator keeps crashing at irregular intervals.
: It's really irking my arse.
Recently a few lawsuits were filed against AOL for their add on to the download software (Smartdownload?) that comes with Netscape. I don't have a Mac but I assume the 2 products are identical. When trying to download something the software would report the location, computer ID, and file name back to AOL.
Sometimes the server was busy and people needed to restart the download a few times to get it going.
This might be the same with AIM. On a Win95-2k PC getting rid of AIM is akin to cleaning oil from underneath your finger nails. Much like a virus. The only way to rid yourself of it completely is to search for the icon and driver references in the registry. (See the above post) There may be components necessary for netscape to work properly.
So, since AOL can't possibly understand why you would not want to use their Borg like, er...convenient Messaging program they may have linked the 2 programs, removing one may screw with the other.
: Any word on whether (I know it's a funny question) MS Internet
: Explorer 5x for Mac is as compromised as it's Windows
: sibling? Same for Outlook Express?
I would assume it is, they are the same product simply compiled to a different processor instruction set. For the sake of security, I would take it for granted.
: Also any info on the Net Barrier software?
Sorry, I don't have a Mac so I am not familiar with it. Your best bet is to check on the ports that the firewall protects and look around the net for security alerts related to Macs.
Here's one from:
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-91.15.NCSA.Telnet.vulnerability.html
--------------------------------------------
I. Description
The default configuration of NCSA Telnet for both the Macintosh and the PC has a serious vulnerability in
its implementation of an ftp server.
The default configuration file enables ftp via the "ftp=yes" line. However, sites should be aware that ftp is
also enabled in the absence of any ftp statement in the configuration file.
II. Impact
Any Internet user can connect via ftp to a PC or Macintosh running the default configuration of NCSA
Telnet and gain unauthorized read and write access to any of its files, including system files.
III. Solution
Either disable ftp server functionality or provide password protection as described below.
To disable the ftp server, add an "ftp=no" line in the configuration file.
If the ftp server option is enabled (via either an "ftp=yes" line in the configuration file or the absence of an
ftp statement in the configuration file), then the Telpass program (included with both Mac and PC
versions) can be used to provide password protection. Telpass is used to enter usernames and
encrypted passwords into a password file. The configuration file specifies the name and location of the
password file in the "passfile=" statement. The usage of Telpass is documented in Chapter 5 of version
2.4 of the Macintosh version documentation and Chapter 7 of version 2.3 of the PC version. Note that the
documentation (as well as the package itself) is available by anonymous ftp from ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu
(141.142.20.50).
The instructions for enabling password protection differ between the Macintosh and PC versions, but in
both cases they involve enabling the "passfile" option in the configuration file, and creating usernames
and encrypted passwords with the Telpass program.
CERT/CC strongly urges all sites running NCSA Telnet to implement one of these two workarounds.
--------------------------------------
Try this link for some interesting programs:
http://www.l0pht.com/~spacerog/filelists/hacks.html
---------------------------------------
Or for Macintosh security:
http://www.securemac.com/
----------------------------------------
Cracking AIM's Password encryption:
http://freaky.staticusers.net/textfiles/aol/aimh.txt
----------------------------------------
Outlook Express 4.5 Crack:
http://www.securemac.com/sonata.cfm
----------------------------------------
Denial of Service Attack:
Information:
John Copeland, a professor at Georgia Tech, noticed his
computer sending packets when he was not conducting
any traffic. This Mac Attack effects computers running
MacOS 9 with a internet or network connection. A FAQ
Page has been setup to help you understand the situation.
http://www.securemac.com/macattack.cfm
---------------------------------------------
There's plenty more, this was just after a couple of searches through google and webcrawler. (Yahoo is corporate filtered).
Ifyou would like toknow how a hacker would gain access, goto some of these macintosh sites then click on their Links section. the "good" stuff is never on a search engine.
Crack open a few books on Macintosh networking and learn about ports, this is how a hacker gains direct access. Even a trojan needs a port to send data.
Remember..."It's not paranoia if their really out to get you!"
-Loki
