heise online – Apple Safari Browser Automatically Executes Shell Scripts

With the switch to Intel, Apple is suddenly finding itself the target of added scrutiny by security researchers. This latest flaw is actually 2 separate features that are, IMO design flaws that should never have made it into the production version of the OS. Apple, much like Microsoft decided their browser should automatically open certain “safe” file types. Problem is, there is no such thing as a safe file type. The second issue results from 2 features: Apple’s decision to allow the OS to automatically execute scripts, and binary metafiles that are created when you change the extension of a file. (OS X does this so that it still knows what the file is.) Michael Lehn (a Ph.D student at the University of Ulm in Germany) figured out that if you changed the extension of a script on a Mac to .jpg (or something else the browser would try to render) and then edited it to remove the shell definition, the file would be downloaded and automatically executed. There’s a reason this doesn’t happen on BSD. Apple’s OS team really needs to look harder at the implications of its design decisions.

cooltech.iafrica.com | tech news IBM makes chip breakthrough

IBM researchers have come up with a process that has allowed them to create silicon chips at 30nm. This is quite impressive as the theoretical limit on optical microlithography was 32nm. Chipmakers can keep prices low for the near future as they won’t have to make major investments in new process technology as quickly as once thought. So what does this mean for you and me? It means computers, videogame consoles and multimedia devices can continue to get faster, cheaper, require less power and produce less heat. Sounds good to me.

OS X Ate My Files! at Binary Bonsai

One of my close friends recently had the above happen to him as well. The irony is that he was making a backup CD at the time! There was too much data to fit, so he had to remove some folders. When he dragged them back to the desktop he was warned about overwriting, but since the files were the same he didn’t feel that there was any danger. The problem is that in Apple’s attempts to make everything work in a consistent manner, what really happens is that your real files are destroyed. Technically, the original folder (and all the files it contained) is replaced with an alias to the original folder. (which can’t be opened because the target, destroyed in the act creating the alias, no longer exists) It’s not something that most people would think of, but it’s been standard in operating systems for as long as I can remember. The difference here is that the warning OS X gives the user isn’t enough to make them think, hey.. maybe I shouldn’t do this. (and thanks to the efficiency of the filesystem, those files are truly unrecoverable.) Way to go Apple!