MacBook/Safari Hacked in Seconds

Charlie Miller, veteran hacker and security specialist has done it once again. Many people still remember Charlie where he also successfully hacked a MacBook in seconds. This time in Pwn2Own 2009 he was able to hack a fully patched MacBook by exploiting a security vulnerability in Safari, Apple's web browser. The hack was accomplished by the team clicking on a link that took control of the machine within seconds. Charlie Miller walked away with the MacBook and the $10,000 top prize after successfully hacking the MacBook the fastest.

With that, TippinPoint Zero Day, the event sponsor has acquired exclusive rights to the vulnerability, and will work with Apple to patch the flaw. Details about the attack will not be disclosed until the patch is ready.

On the other end, another successful hacker nicknamed "Nils" was able to hack into a Sony Vaio laptop running an updated Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8. "Nils" won a cash prize and was able to keep the hardware he successfully hacked. "Nils" was also successfully able to break into Apple's Safari browser only being the second to Charlie.

The New Apple Mac Netbook?

Hold your horses Apple fanatics! I'm just here to echo another mac rumor from Digitimes. Digitimes posted a Commercial Times report that Taiwan-based Wintek will supply touch panels for "Apple's new netbook" due in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

Wintek revealed that it is currently working with Apple to develop some new products, but it said it does not know what applications the new products are for. Wintek added that no shipment schedule has been worked out yet, but shipments are likely to begin in the second half of the year.

While Winktek was unable to confirm the exact products, the Chinese-language newspaper claims that Apple will be releasing a new "netbook" for later this year.

The "netbook" term is one that has been traditionally applied to low-cost miniaturized notebooks. It's a market that Apple has officially denied interest in.

Still, there have been long-running whispers that Apple has been working on a true "sub" notebook which may correspond to these rumors. Commercial Times has had a mixed record in predicting Apple's products based on supply chain reports, but has had some seemingly accurate data in the past.

New Apple® Mac® Pro using Intel “Nehalem” Xeon processors Announced

Apple® today introduced the new Mac® Pro using Intel “Nehalem” Xeon processors and a next-generation system architecture to deliver up to twice the performance of the previous generation system. The new Mac Pro starts at $2,499 and features the latest graphics technology and an updated interior that makes expansion even easier than before

Apple promises three times greater video performance with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics card with 512MB of dedicated GDDR3 memory. An ATI Radeon HD 4870 is available as a custom option, and the Mac Pro has a Mini DisplayPort and DVI port, meaning it can support Apple's new LED Cinema Display as well as existing DVI based models including the 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display.

The new quad-core Mac Pro, with a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:

• one 2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500 series processor with 8MB of shared L3 cache;
• 3GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 8GB;
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics with 512MB of GDDR3 memory;
• 640GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort and DVI (dual-link) for video output (adapters sold separately);
• four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
• five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire® 800 ports;
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
• ships with Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Mighty Mouse.

The new 8-core Mac Pro, with a suggested retail price of $3,299 (US), includes:

• two 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 series processors with 8MB of shared L3 cache per processor;
• 6GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 32GB;
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics with 512MB of GDDR3 memory;
• 640GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort and DVI (dual-link) for video output (adapters sold separately);
• four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
• five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
• ships with Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Mighty Mouse.

The new Mac Pro will be available next week through the online Apple Store, Apple Retail Stores, and authorized resellers.