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Macbook security on wireless network

V

Vazza

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 25, 2006
661
398
London, UK
I'm having problems with security on the wireless network (WEP protected) I have with my flatmate's XP PC mainly that he is able to access all my files and place new files into the folders (no malicious intent, thankfully). I followed the guide here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/54704/

As a result he knows the password to my Macbook account so is there a method to network that doesn't involve me giving him my password. What I want to be able to do is just share the folders I want NOT my entire Home directory :confused:. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

BTW my flatmate is the network admin.
 
I don't think there is a simple way to share particular folders like you can do in Windows, unfortunately

I'm surprised he can see you entire home folder, though. What do you have enabled in you "Sharing" system preferences? I was under the impression that when you enabled file sharing, only the files in your Public folder are openly accessible.

Or maybe I'm confusing File Sharing with Web Sharing?

Anyway, as a first step please list what Sharing you have enabled so far...
 
Thanks for the reply, Imalave.

Basically when
I entered the WEP I could connect to the network and access the net, however I could not see any of the shared folders on his PC (Finder>Network) so I tried the method in the post above and now can access them, however, he can now access my whole home directory

I've already changed my password and turned off ALL filesharing in Sharing...to no avail, he can still see all my files and create new files in my Home directory!:confused: BTW my firewall is supposedly off.
 
Sorry he cannot access my whole Home directory rather he can see Music, Videos, Desktop, Public etc. and can also place new files into these folders (annoying as he can put files onto my desktop).
 
Vazza said:
Thanks for the reply, Imalave.

Basically when
I entered the WEP I could connect to the network and access the net, however I could not see any of the shared folders on his PC (Finder>Network) so I tried the method in the post above and now can access them, however, he can now access my whole home directory

I've already changed my password and turned off ALL filesharing in Sharing...to no avail, he can still see all my files and create new files in my Home directory!:confused: BTW my firewall is supposedly off.

EDIT: Sorry he cannot access my whole Home directory rather he can see Music, Videos, Desktop, Public etc. but can place new files into these folders.
Click to expand...

Hi, there are many, many pages to that thread you linked to. Can you cut and paste the changes you made?

How is he viewing and creating files in your home directory? Does it look like a regular Windows Share on his computer? Is he just able to right-click on your home foder and say "Create New Folder" or "Create New File"?

Do you have *all* sharing turned off, including FTP and Web sharing? Even Internet Sharing? Just covering all the bases.
 
Vazza said:
Sorry he cannot access my whole Home directory rather he can see Music, Videos, Desktop, Public etc. and can also place new files into these folders (annoying as he can put files onto my desktop).
Click to expand...

Hmm...that is still very strange. I thought only Public was accessible.

FYI, if you want to share other folders besides just the Public folder, I seem to recall that the way you can do that is by creating a shortcut to anything you want (be it a file or another folder) and putting it in the Public folder...
 
lmalave said:
Hi, there are many, many pages to that thread you linked to. Can you cut and paste the changes you made?

How is he viewing and creating files in your home directory? Does it look like a regular Windows Share on his computer? Is he just able to right-click on your home foder and say "Create New Folder" or "Create New File"?

Do you have *all* sharing turned off, including FTP and Web sharing? Even Internet Sharing? Just covering all the bases.
Click to expand...

Information you will need to know

• The IP Address of your PC (Start > Run > CMD {return} > “ipconfig” {return})
• The IP Address of your Mac (Applications > Utilities > Terminal {Run app} > for ethernet connection “ipconfig getifaddr en0” {return} or for wireless "ipconfig getifaddr en1" {return})
• The workgroup the PC is in (Right click on My Computer, select Properties, and select the Computer Name tab)

System Configuration

It is important that the account you log in with on your XP system has a password set, if it does not you will not be able to login to your Windows share from OS X.

You need to put your Mac in the same workgroup as your Windows PC. To do this open “Directory Access” (Applications > Utilities > Directory Access). Click on the padlock in the bottom left corner to make changes; you will be prompted for your password. If “SMB” is not ticked off, then tick it off. Select “SMB” and hit the “Configure…” button. Now enter the name of your Windows workgroup. In my case the name is “AD”.

mac_directory_access.png


Setting up the PC to share files

You need to create and share a folder on your PC that you will then access from your Mac.
To do this create a folder (or select and existing one) right click on it from Windows Explorer and select “Properties”. Select the “Sharing” tab and share out the folder. I’d recommend you use a one word name for the share. For example “mac”, not “Apple Mac Share”, it just narrows the risk of complications.

Windows_shared_folder.jpg


Setting up the Mac to share files

Open “System Preferences” (Applications > System Preferences). Go to “Sharing” under “Internet & Network”, and tick off “Windows Sharing”, and if it doesn’t start by itself, click “Start”. This will share out your entire home folder.

mac_sharing.png


If You're running Tiger (10.4), you will also need to click the "Accounts" button and tick off the box next to your account name so that OS X knows to share out your particular home folder.

mac_enable_acc_share.jpg


Accessing your Mac from your PC

Click “Start > Run” and enter “\\192.168.1.2\edesignuk”, replacing the IP address with the IP address of your Mac, and “edesignuk” with the short user name of your account in OS X. When asked to authenticate enter your Mac accounts short user name and password. All being well you should now be able to see you entire home folder on your OS X system. You can also map this share like you would any other Windows network share so that it is accessible from a drive letter.

Accessing your PC from your Mac

To mount a Windows share on your Mac, click on your desktop so that Finder is the active application, from the Finder menu go to “Go > Connect to Server”. In the “Server Address” field enter “smb://192.168.1.3/mac”, replacing the IP address with the IP address of your PC, and “mac” with the name of the Windows share you created earlier.

mac_connect_to_server.png


When asked to authenticate enter the name of your PC in “Workgroup/Domain” (Unless your PC is part of a domain and your PC account is held on a domain controller, in which case enter the domain that you normally log on to Windows with). For “Username” and “Password” enter the username and password which you use to log on to your Windows machine with. Click ok and your shared folder should be mounted as a network drive on your desktop.

mac_connect_to_pc.png
Click to expand...

All file sharing is off.
 
EDIT: Disregard what I wrote...he can still see my computer and folders as I described above and insert new files.

Eraserhead, the firewall is on with no boxes checked.
 
Vazza said:
I'm having problems with security on the wireless network (WEP protected) I have with my flatmate's XP PC mainly that he is able to access all my files and place new files into the folders (no malicious intent, thankfully).
Click to expand...


Sounds very strange, almost as if you've been hacked which is worrying, if none of the boxes are checked and the firewall is on that should be basically impossible.

Is everyone using XP or OS X? If so it is worth switching the Wireless network security to WPA (if possible) as WEP isn't actually secure and is only really a deterrent.
 
A bit more info, I got confused earlier on...basically he can't access my computer via My Network Places anymore...he can still access my computer and folders through my IP though.

There's just the 2 of us on the network, he's using XP Pro and obviously I'm on the Macbook.
 
I don't know, I'd go for my WPA suggestion though if you can.

Can you load up and screenshot Directory Access (/Applications/Utilities/Directory Access)? I believe you may still have some stuff open with that.
 
Vazza said:
EDIT: Disregard what I wrote...he can still see my computer and folders as I described above and insert new files.

Eraserhead, the firewall is on with no boxes checked.
Click to expand...

Ok, so I read through the instructions that you followed. So did you follow all of these instructions? Which of the above steps did you undo? You unchecked "Windows Sharing", right?

What about the "Directory Accesss" settings? I'm not familiar with those settings, but have you tried unchecking everything under "Directory Access"?

Can you provide Screenshots of your Directory Access settings as well as your Sharing settings?

Also, can you post screenshots of what your machine looks like on your roommates computer?
 
Eraserhead said:
I don't know, I'd go for my WPA suggestion though if you can.

Can you load up and screenshot Directory Access (/Applications/Utilities/Directory Access)? I believe you may still have some stuff open with that.
Click to expand...

WPA vs. WEP has nothing to do with file sharing, though. He and his roommate are both connected to the same wireless network, so they absolutely SHOULD be able to see each other's computers, even with WPA. The issue is the file access.
 
Vazza said:
A bit more info, I got confused earlier on...basically he can't access my computer via My Network Places anymore...he can still access my computer and folders through my IP though.

There's just the 2 of us on the network, he's using XP Pro and obviously I'm on the Macbook.
Click to expand...

So what is he typing in exactly? Does he just put something in like \\10.0.0.3\ in his Explorer window? What exactly is he doing? Or does he put something like file://10.0.0.3/ or ftp://10.0.0.3/?
 
lmalave said:
WPA vs. WEP has nothing to do with file sharing, though. He and his roommate are both connected to the same wireless network, so they absolutely SHOULD be able to see each other's computers, even with WPA. The issue is the file access.
Click to expand...

True, sorry it's not important right now, my feeling was that with this problem the fact that the wireless network isn't secure means others could get access too.
 
All I've undone is uncheck all file sharing (plus untick my account from the "Accounts" button) and changed my workgroup back to the default "Workgroup".

As requested:


Will try to get a screenshot on my flatmate's side of things too.
 
Vazza said:
A bit more info, I got confused earlier on...basically he can't access my computer via My Network Places anymore...he can still access my computer and folders through my IP though.

There's just the 2 of us on the network, he's using XP Pro and obviously I'm on the Macbook.
Click to expand...

Try this, actually: turn all sharing settings ON and then turn them OFF again. Maybe somehow one of the Sharings is stuck on ON even though the Preferences window is showing it as OFF.
 
ive got the exact same problem.. i can access every folder on my mbp from my pc just buy using the cmd prompt typing \\00.00.00 (macs ip) i didnt even need to enter my macs login name and password..
 
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