Are Hackers starting to look at Apple?


The Inquirer cites a survey by the SANS Institute, the computer security organization, which says some Apple products are beginning to become tempting targets for hackers, owing to their ubiquity.

iTunes hacks (malicious or otherwise) were alive and well during the first three months of 2005, SANS says, although RealPlayer and Winamp were also targeted.

Here's what SANS' press release states, in its quarterly 'top 20' review:

"Software affected: RealPlayer, iTunes and WinAmp Media Players
Systems affected: Desktops and laptops.
Vulnerability: Buffer Overflows
Risk: Users of these applications can be infected by simply visiting a web site that has been infected with malicious code."

Analysis: We thought Apple had addressed this fairly recently, but we'd also be interested to see how often iTunes might be hacked on the Windows, as opposed to the OS X, platform. Even with iTunes and DVD Jon's cracks of the iTunes DRM, it's scarcely a national security threat.

What's clear - from its very omission - is that OS X just isn't being hacked. But will Apple's growing Mac sales increase the attractiveness of X to hackers?