security issues

[ndmccormack]

surely this is the biggest security issue ever...
if i put in the panther cd, I can reset any passord (even down to the toot administrator) to gain access to the computer. admittedly I don't think I can do this over the network (altho maybe with network install commands I can). But whats the point of having passwords if this is possible with every copy of panther out there???

any thoughts?
Niall

[tomf87]

Any OS is like this so it is a must that you have physical security as well as network security. They each complement each other.

[broken_keyboard]

Yes, basically if someone has physical access to a machine security is not really possible (unless you encrypt your home dir with something like file vault). When people talk about security, they are nearly always talking about whether people who don't have physical access to the machine can get on it, such as someone trying to log in through the Internet.

[Horrortaxi]

If somebody can gain physical access to your computer then all bets are off.

Security goes beyond software. Remember those locks on your doors are there for a reason.

[superbovine]

surely this is the biggest security issue ever...
if i put in the panther cd, I can reset any passord (even down to the toot administrator) to gain access to the computer. admittedly I don't think I can do this over the network (altho maybe with network install commands I can). But whats the point of having passwords if this is possible with every copy of panther out there???

any thoughts?
Niall

someone could also make a Van Eck Box (http://eckbox.sourceforge.net/) and read the sensitive data on your screen, but you don't see me working inside a farade cage.

[Darwin]

Simple

Install this

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/openfirmwarepassword.html

Information here:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120095

that will stop anyone booting up your computer by other media devices

Of course if your bad with passwords (remembering them that is) this will make recovering of passwords (using the OS X CD) more fun :D

[ndmccormack]

whoa.. that van eck box is a bit crazy. I think I've opened a whole bag of "we've got the fear" worms here that I didn't really need to know about!

it does seem a little strange to me, but I suppose as broken_keyboard said, its really only when people get physical access to your machine that this matters, as network security is usually a bit tighter!

If I encrypt my home directory, will the password not be resetable from the bootup cd? or does this password system exist above/seperate form the administrator priveliges?

not that all thsi really matters... I'm only a lowly graphic designer, encryption is the least of my worries!

Niall