Microsoft Windows vs. Apple Mac OS X: Resilience against ARP cache poisoning attack in a local area network

Robust security measures are integrated into new release versions of operating systems (OSs) to ensure that users have a more secure and reliable environment in which to run their daily tasks. In this article, through extensive practical experiments, we evaluate and compare the resilience of popular versions of Microsoft Windows OSs and Apple Mac OS X against Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) cache poisoning attack in a local area network (LAN). The experimental results demonstrate clearly that all tested versions of Windows OSs and Apple Mac OS X are vulnerable to the ARP cache poisoning attack, and do not deploy built-in efficient security features to prevent success of this attack. In addition, the experimental results directly contradict the common belief that Windows OSs are always less secure than Apple OSs. On the other hand, the article analyzes the efforts that have been made and the different methods that have been applied to detect and prevent ARP cache poisoning attacks. The article shows that none of these efforts and methods has been able to give satisfactory results.