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'Mac hack' also affects Windows

On Monday I reported on a Safari vulnerability that was exposed at a security conference - as it turns out, the vulnerability also affects PCs running Windows as well. Hackers Dino Dai Zovi and Shane Macaulay were able to hijack a MacBook Pro as part of the "PWN to OWN" contest at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Written by Jason D. O'Grady, Contributor
QuickTime
On Monday I reported on a Safari vulnerability that was exposed at a security conference - as it turns out, the vulnerability also affects PCs running Windows as well.

Hackers Dino Dai Zovi and Shane Macaulay were able to hijack a MacBook Pro as part of the "PWN to OWN" contest at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

According to Terri Forslof, manager of security response at 3Com's TippingPoint division (via Digit Online), the flaw that Dai Zovi exploited actually lies in the way Apple's QuickTime Media Player works with the Java programming language.

QuickTime runs on both Windows and the Mac and it also supported by the Firefox Web browser (also cross platform) so the exploit is more of a QuickTime flaw rather than a Mac or Safari flaw.

The flaw was disclosed to Apple on Monday but since it hasn't been publicly disclosed, it is not considered to be a significant threat. Look for a patch from Apple soon.

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