As more and more vulnerabilities are found in the Mac OS X (Leopard) operating system, security researchers are realizing the importance of developing proof-of-concept exploits for those vulnerabilities. This unique tome is the first book to uncover the flaws in the Mac OS X operating system—and how to deal with them. Written by two white hat hackers, this book is aimed at making vital information known so that you can find ways to secure your Mac OS X systems, and examines the sorts of attacks that are prevented by Leopard’s security defenses, what attacks aren’t, and how to best handle those weaknesses.


Where security is concerned, Macs have long led a charmed existence. No more. If you manage security for a network that includes OS X machines, this update on the strengths and weaknesses of Mac OS X is required reading.

Beginning with the core differences between Mac OS X and Windows or Linux, this book follows the steps an attacker would take. You will learn the tools needed to find vulnerabilities, the techniques used to exploit them, and the means by which attackers maintain control once they gain access. When you know how they get in, you'll know how to keep them out.

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See what makes Mac OS® X unique, what security improvements were added with Leopard®, and where vulnerabilities lie
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Explore uncommon protocols—Bonjour®, the QuickTime® file format, and RTSP
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Look for bugs in Apple's source code or use a black box technique such as fuzzing
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Examine stack overflow and heap overflow attacks directed at PowerPC and x86 architectures, as well as shellcodes and payloads
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Learn to inject code into running processes and how attackers use this technique
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Understand Mac OS X-specific rootkit techniques