InformationWeek reports that in a contest of hackers, a MacBook Air was easily compromised within two minutes using a zero-day vulnerability (a vulnerability that is exploited for hacking before it generally becomes known) in Apple's Safari 3.1 Web browser.
According to the article, contest participants had their choice of trying to hack an Apple MacBook Air running OS X 10.5.2, a Sony Vaio VGN-TZ37CN running Ubuntu 7.10, or a Fujitsu U810 running Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1. The victorious team won $10,000 from security firm TippingPoint Technologies for compromising the MacBook Air.
The undisclosed vulnerability in Safari 3.1 has been shown to Apple and no further information about it will be revealed until Apple can issue an update, said InformationWeek.
So much for the Mac's reputation for security robustness. Every Apple user I know (and some I don't know) are so fond of telling me that their systems are so much more secure than Windows or other platforms. How ironic, then, that the winners chose to crack into the Mac machine, rather than the Windows Vista unit. And they were able to get in almost effortlessly.
To be sure, both machines have their flaws, but the much touted security mojo of the Mac OS is now just another technology myth, and may now take its rightful place alongside tales of alligators living in the New York City sewer system. And what a relief that the annoying Mac supporters must now slink silently away, all the while cursing the pantheon of Apple programmers.
OK, I know it's rather childish of me to be celebrating the Mac's embarrassing exposure. I'll try to act a little more mature next time.
Meanwhile, what say you?