Mac Users Beware! OSX Lion Exposes User Passwords

Mac users beware! While Apple’s OSX operating system is usually touted by users for its security and immunity to viruses targeting Microsoft Windows, it is not always as safe as Apple fanboys would like you to think.

A new security flaw discovered by researcher David Emry puts your password at risk if you use Apple’s FileVault encryption app. FileVault, which many Mac owners use to store sensitive data on their computers, encrypts your files in a directory only accessible after entering your secret password.

However, according to Emry, users who had installed FileVault prior to upgrading to OSX system version 10.7.3 are in danger of having their secret files compromised. These users, and potential intruders, “may be able to find their password in a system-wide debug log file, stored in plain text outside of the encrypted area,” Engadget reported.

There is currently no way “to fight the flaw without disabling FileVault, so users rushing to change their password now may find it being logged as well.”

So much for Apple always being more secure than Windows. Though to be fair, it usually is, even if just because it’s not as lucrative a target for hackers and virus makers as Windows PCs.