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August 23, 2006
The Apple Wi-Fi Brawl
Those chaps from SecureWorks, David Maynor and John Ellch, must have expected some notoriety when they demonstrated a Wi-Fi security flaw in the Apple MacBook. They couldn't have been prepared, however, for the immediate breach in the walls of Hell which followed.
Some of the demons which broke loose threatened to kill the messenger, and his dog.
Washington Post security blogger, Brian Krebs, under assault from the same demons, posted the transcript of an interview with Maynor and Ellch which seemed to confirm that although the demonstration used a third-party wireless card, the MacBook's default device drivers were also vulnerable.
Apple officially challenged that claim. Apple spokeswoman Lynn Fox announced, "Despite SecureWorks being quoted saying the Mac is threatened by the exploit demonstrated at Black Hat, they have provided no evidence that in fact it is. To date, SecureWorks has not shared or demonstrated any code in relation to the Black Hat-demonstrated exploit that is relevant to the hardware and software that we ship. Whatever they are claiming to have found, they haven't shared it with us."
Daring Fireball weighed in with what purported to be a sober analysis, slapping SecureWorks and Krebs about the face. Securosis opined in precisely the opposite direction.
Our official position on this is that we do not have a clue, although we think what has been established is that the Mac community could learn a thing or two about the rules of public discourse. And we cannot wait to see what happens when the bell goes for the next round.
Posted by cw at August 23, 2006 10:25 AM
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Comments
You've missed a key component to the kerfuffle.
It's true that a few Mac users went over the top and wrote threatening letters to the SecureWorks guys. It was completely uncalled for. Some Mac users are idiots.
However, Maynor set the tone by making comments that infuriated many Mac users, calling them overly smug. To whit:
"We're not picking specifically on Macs here, but if you
watch those 'Get a Mac' commercials enough, it eventually
makes you want to stab one of those users in the eye with a lit cigarette or something."
Now he's been quoted saying that he was talking about the "mac users" (sic) in the commercial. I'll accept that, but if I hadn't heard the apology, which wasn't reported widely, the main part of the story for me wouldn't be that a Mac was hacked, but that one of the hackers wanted to put a cigarette out in my eye.
It's unfortunate, but SecureWorks' Maynor set the tone for what followed. It still doesn't excuse the idiots, but you can see how some Mac people might be upset.
Posted by: Gankaku at August 24, 2006 12:31 AM