To put this topic to bed in my mind, here is Apple’s notice about wireless security updates. This hopefully will also put other people to bed who criticized and had panic attacks and panic fanboy defense when Maynor and Cache presented about wireless driver exploits and did so on a Mac. I love Macs as much as the next person, but please, don’t cannibalize our own people. We need to encourage research, not hang it out to be stoned when it discovers something important against our favorite hardware/software or isn’t fully disclosed like our mischievous hearts want. This whole situation ellicited passionate, emotional responses from many people (we should have seen that coming, with the Mac vs Windows vs Linux debates), including people who should be more disassociated due to our profession. That includes journalists and bloggers who completely misrepresented and had no comprehension of even a visual, video presentation and what the implications were. Unethical journalism (brought in large part due to the clashing and greying between proper journalism and amatuer bloggers) really did not help.
[ Update: Two more links just for me. First, Matasano’s commentary on the new patch, and a link from a commentor about third party accreditation when you can’t trust the researchers, the press, or the company. Excellent idea!! ]
At any rate, hopefully this is back to bed, and props to Maynor and Cache for putting their necks in the noose, whether for fame or public utility (I don’t much care), at least this improves our awareness about wireless issues and improves the software and drivers that power it. Ignorance is not a security blanket.
Totally unrelated: Is Amazon.com dying? Their pages the past two days load like molasses, if at all. I wonder if they are weathering some attack or what?