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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Army Switching to Mac |
| 2007-12-26 |
| The U.S. Army is increasing its purchases of Apple's Mac computers, which are considered less vulnerable to viruses and security attacks. The Army started integrating Macs into its IT systems in 2005 but has been held back by the hipster computer's premium price and incompatibility with the military's secured-access Common Access Cards system. But the situation is changing, according to Forbes. The Army effort is being led by Lt. Col. C.J. Wallington, a division chief in the Army's office of enterprise information systems. The Army's Apple program, created after Boutelle's 2005 address, is working to change that. As early as February 2008, the Army is planning to introduce software, developed by Arlington, Texas-based Thursby Software, that will also enable Mac desktops and laptops to use CAC systems--a change that should make it easier to get Macs into the service. Though Apple machines are still pricier than their Windows counterparts, the added security they offer might be worth the cost, says Wallington. He points out that Apple's X Serve servers, which are gradually becoming more commonplace in Army data centers, are proving their mettle. "Those are some of the most attacked computers there are. But the attacks used against them are designed for Windows-based machines, so they shrug them off," he says. Of course, cyberspooks may be honing their Mac-attacking skills, too. An end-of-year report by Finnish software security company F-Secure highlights the growing number of hackers targeting Apple systems with malicious software, some of which could allow cybercriminals to steal security passwords. In the past two years, until this October, F-Secure found only a small handful of malicious programs targeting Macs. In the past two months, the company has found more than a hundred specimens of Mac-targeted malicious code. As a mac user I'm not sure I'm happy about this. But I did buy a copy of Norton Anti-virus for myself for Christmas because it's clear the Mac's charmed liffe is over. But this should accelerate things. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #8 Hate Windows. Like Macs. But don't think this will amount to anything. Whatever technical advantage Macs might have is easily obscured by the idiocy of the operators. That's your point of failure. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2007-12-26 22:24 |
| #7 Actions like this configuration of a kernel for the NSA's SElinux will become more common. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-12-26 22:12 |
| #6 Better to accept that real *secrets* don't belong on a computer any more than they belong on a piece of paper that might fall to the wrong hand... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-12-26 20:22 |
| #5 Eventually the Pentagon is going to have to bite the bullet and contract a military specs computer. That implies a complex philosophy of computer use and compatibility. Every aspect of a secure computer will be modular, with a very low electronic signature. The OS, software and data will be kept on a thumb drive, which will be electronically cleaned when traveling from hub area to hub area, retaining on encrypted ID and password. That is, a soldier traveling between data hubs will have his thumb drive cleaned. He will carry it and his laptop with him to the next hub, where his thumb drive will be plugged in, identify him, and he can enter his password. It is then uploaded with the OS, software and data at the new hub. Then he plugs the thumb drive into any mil spec computer, most likely his own, and everything he had at the first hub is restored. The laptop is designed not to function if its seal is broken. And if a hub is not available, he does not clean his thumb drive in the first place. This eliminates the #1 security problem of laptops: loss. If the laptop is lost, it has no data on it. If it is stolen and opened, it no longer functions. If the thumb drive is lost or stolen it has no data on it, except encrypted ID specific to one individual, and his password check. This would be the system for secure computing. Then there would be a second system for proprietary, but otherwise unclassified information, that would be ordinary PCs on a closed network, like the Pentagon uses today. Then a third, public network, that would be a DoD intranet. A typical lower security net, even accessible from the Internet. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-12-26 18:09 |
| #4 I use Kaspersky as my commercial av/fw/malware. And I have a few free ones I use in depth as well. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-12-26 17:55 |
| #3 Intel-based Macs can run Windows now, thus providing a insecure back door for Macs which have installed Windows software. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-12-26 17:14 |
| #2 Norton is the sleeping guard dog of the Anti virus world. It'll slow your machine considerably yet still let spyware and viruses through. You might as well use one of the Free programs like AVG, update it manually, stay away from anything free and hope for the best. Timmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm |
| Posted by: X7C00 2007-12-26 16:52 |
| #1 Back in 'the day,' While attached to the A-12 program, we had Macs and PCs running side by side; a real pain in the (tush) if wanted to move data btwn two platforms. hope tha has been fixed. |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2007-12-26 15:29 |