Parental Controls bypass?

[Mobile-Use]

You do not become programmer by playing useless games.

FYI I became a programmer from playing games... and i think hacking parental controls is a great sign of a programmer... lol

 

[sushi]

If you want to filter the Internet usage, you can always set times schedules on the router.

That would mean owning a router that support it of course and a password.

I was going to suggest this route.

A good router can limit the sites the individual can visit and times you have access to the Internet.

Not in the slightest. It's just utter waste of time.

I believe that it is good practice to monitor a minor's computer use.

First, no computer in the bedroom, place it in a public area of the home such as the living room.

Second, explain computer time and tell the kid it's time to get off. Just like limiting TV time.

Third, be around when your kid is on the computer/Internet.

 

[kryptonianjorel]

Let the poor kid alone. If its computers he likes, let him have computers. Personally I've always wanted to be left to my business, and not told what I can or cannot occupy my time with. Children are people too

 

[Dudefiftyone]

Solution

There are a few sites that jip the timelimit.
He could go to one of these sites and stay there, keeping what
ever he is working on in a different tab, then it logs you out, but instead
of the red minus sign it shows a yellow user logged in
sign, and you can log back in with no timelimit.

One of these sites is www.iflysf.com

if you start the video on thier homepage so it will
be playing while your time runs out, it will show
that yellow thingy once you logged out and you
can log right back in

might work on YouTube too

the only way to fix it is to shut off at the login screen and when
you turn back on the yellow thing changes to the red minus

hope this helps!

 

[horseyhannnah10]

I have tried that with snow leopard and i didn't work however when i restart my macbook it simply puts me right into the admin that way the timer doesn't apply and my computer stays on as long as i want to goof around on it!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

 

[electroshock]

As a parent...

I noticed that my in-laws 13-year old kid spends all his time glued to their iMac. I know that his user-account has parental controls enabled, and his computer-time is limited. I talked with him about it, and he mentioned that "Those time-limits are useless, since I can easily bypass them". He wouldn't tell me how he does it, though.

So, how could he bypass the controls? I'm asking because I would like to be able to plug that hole (if possible), so he would do something else than sit by the computer all the time.

"Discussing" the matter with a frigging 13-year old who thinks he knows everything is next to useless.

Alternatively: is there a third-party parenting-app that would offer more robust features that the OS X built-in toold do?

Here's a friendly suggestion -- and I know you truly have the child's best interests in your heart, so please don't take this the wrong way. Let his parents know, then stay out of it unless they ask you to help intervene.

It's ultimately an issue his parents will have to deal with and it's their child they get to make the decisions for rearing. They may have different priorities regarding computer use; if that's the case, then you'll have to respect that. But doesn't hurt to let them know and then let them decide how to handle it.

You will have done your part by having a friendly chat with the kid (already done) and by letting the parents know. After that, consider wiping your hands of the issue.

 

[jtectutorials]

Parental Controls bypass?

I noticed that my in-laws 13-year old kid spends all his time glued to their iMac. I know that his user-account has parental controls enabled, and his computer-time is limited. I talked with him about it, and he mentioned that "Those time-limits are useless, since I can easily bypass them". He wouldn't tell me how he does it, though.

So, how could he bypass the controls? I'm asking because I would like to be able to plug that hole (if possible), so he would do something else than sit by the computer all the time.

"Discussing" the matter with a frigging 13-year old who thinks he knows everything is next to useless.

Alternatively: is there a third-party parenting-app that would offer more robust features that the OS X built-in toold do?

I know how...
but first off all i don't speak english so please forgive me...

1.When parental control tells you have 1 minute left you just plug out the electricity cable...
and then your time will count again from your last logout/shutdown
so if you logged out at 30 minutes you get again 30 minutes if you do this little trick...

 

[calculator.ftvb]

Woe upon you the day you get past them and find a little site called OurfayAnchay...

LOL

 

[Guestex]

Parential Control Bypass

I know I'm not a 13 year old, but I have to say that if I hadn't bypassed parental control, I wouldn't be able to type this. My parents act like they almost hate internet, so they give me veeeeeerry limited access. So what do I do? I hack. Makes me feel proud. I hear my parents, so I'm getting off before I get caught. I would like access like this for the rest of my life before I get thrown out of the house or something.
BTW, it helps to know what operating system you're using. The older it is, the easier to hack. And I'm not even using any hacking software- I just found what I call "a hole in the system".
And since the kid has a time limit for his computer, does the time limit have to do directly to the computer's clock? Even if, it isn't he may have been able to find whatever makes the program "tick" and set it back until he wants to get off. Sorry, but I don't have to deal with a timer. Yet. Good luck with keeping him from computer. Sucks to be him when you actually figure it out.

 

[calderone]

FYI I became a programmer from playing games... and i think hacking parental controls is a great sign of a programmer... lol

No, you became a programmer by studying programming. You didn't learn how to program from a game. Now, games could inspire you to program but there is no process by which one becomes a programmer from playing games.

And this "hacking" is hardly a sign of a great programmer. Especially if he "hacks" just to play games. Now, if Xcode was excluded from his list of allowed apps and he bypass Parental Controls to get to it, that would be a sign of a programmer.

To the OP:
It sounds like what this kid is doing is merely fooling the system and not "hacking" anything. Unless the admin passwords are known or the firmware password is not set.

In that case, you would need to find out how he is doing it exactly and report that to Apple as a bug fix.

Brief Parental Controls Overview:
To give you some more information, the technology behind Parental Controls is the same that is used in Mac OS X Server, there it is called Managed Preferences.

These are stored in /Library/Managed Preferences. They are owned by root, so unless the user has admin privileges they cannot be deleted.

There is a preference owned by the user that references their managed preferences. The user could delete this file, but the changes would not take effect until they logout, and when they log back in it is recreated. So they still cannot bypass by removing this file. Without admin access there is no way (to my knowledge) to bypass managed preferences.

So admin access is key, you have to protect yourself there first.

Outside of that, as mentioned above there is likely just a bug in the OS that isn't forcing logout. I will do some testing and see what I find.

 

[ARF900]

Why are you so worried about your in laws kid? The more you do to try and make him stop playing the more stubborn he will get, you cant just take away the computer and expect him to magically do something productive. It just doesnt work like that. He'll get bored of it eventually if you just leave him alone. Why dont you let his parents worry about it.

And as far as bypassing the security, he most likely just knows the override password, when you live with someone for 13 years its not hard to guess the password, if they arent worried about it, why are you?

 

[cshada97]

Bluff

Ok so take it from another 13 year old, He is most likely Bluffing, i agree that he is not an "Uber Hacker", our school issues Macbooks to grades 7-12, and though i have figured out how to get rid of lightspeed's block, a VERY annoying content filter, But the parental system wont allow changes to the main system. and i agree with the person above, their your in-law's kid, so let him be!

 

[rieckstudio]

bypass parental control

my 12 yo does the same thing. he shut down the computer before the timer expires and then reboots. the time starts again. simple.
I called apple and they acknowledged theres nothing a parent can do.

 

[ottomobille]

I noticed that my in-laws 13-year old kid spends all his time glued to their iMac. I know that his user-account has parental controls enabled, and his computer-time is limited. I talked with him about it, and he mentioned that "Those time-limits are useless, since I can easily bypass them". He wouldn't tell me how he does it, though.

So, how could he bypass the controls? I'm asking because I would like to be able to plug that hole (if possible), so he would do something else than sit by the computer all the time.

"Discussing" the matter with a frigging 13-year old who thinks he knows everything is next to useless.

Alternatively: is there a third-party parenting-app that would offer more robust features that the OS X built-in toold do?

I dont want to be rude but if its not your kid u shouldn't be trying to control his/her privileges and he probably just knows the administrators password.

 

[Serif]

Oddly enough, I find Parental Controls to work very well.

Wait... You mean its function isn't to keep parents from being offended by the less savoury corners of the Interwebs?

 

[barkway]

It seems like an old article, but you may want to check it out..

http://www.applematters.com/article/microsoft-provides-easy-os-x-security-hack/

Also, if you want to stop him at particular times try either removing the fuse/power lead or remove his access to the network.

That is what I have done (remove access to network). We filter by MAC address on our wireless router so when discipline is required, I simply block my kid's MAC address. You might also want to check to make sure the child's user account is not set to "Administrator" because if it is, he can change the parental controls anytime he pleases. Also make sure the lock is engaged on the parental controls after they've been set (little padlock icon in lower left) or same thing, changes can be made as long as his account is an administrator account or he knows the password to the admin account.

 

[donnellmc]

Parental controls and SNAC

Hi there
I am trying to get iMacs access to the internet on a PC based network in a school.
We have a piece of software called Symantec Network Access Control installed on the iMac and the PCs. This quarantines devices which should not be on the network.
When I am logged on as the administrator user I can access the internet using Safari no problem. When I am logged on as a pupil Parental controls was preventing the symantec software running. I think i have "allowed" all the right packages to run now but when on as a pupil I still get an error mesage telling me I need to authenticate but I dont get a chance to enter my credentials - it should pop up a logon box but it is not. Can anyone suggest what may be the problem?
Sorry if the terminology is wrong - this is my first experience with Macs - so be gentle with me!

 

[Mmaton]

If you have an apple wifi base station, go to the settings and take a look at MAC address control. You can find your In-Law's son's Mac address and set a timer to restrict wifi to his computer at certain times! This way if he is working, he can save his work and continue to work offline.

However, Being a 17 year old who loves computers and has a restriction on their computer, I do find it to be rather annoying, especially if i am working online as my school has google's mail service and i use google docs so my teachers can see my progress. However I am going to bed earlier now and feeling fresher in school.

Success!

 

[Yoshi7210]

Well here are three things you can try.

If he has to go to the bathroom or something, take away the POWER CORD. Just unplug it and run. Hide it in a safe place and when you have the chance, give it to his parents and explain the situation.

Disable the network. He can't get online if there is no connection.

Find the install disc. Boot up to the disc. Go to the account settings and ENABLE the "Other.." option. Enable the SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR account. I suggest you put a very strong password, because this account has FULL control over the computer. It can even override the MASTER PASSWORD. Once my mom disabled my account confused: I have no idea WHAT she did XD) and I just booted up from the disc and restored it. (the password) if he gets hold of that disc or the S.E. account password, it's game over. That aside, once you enable the S.E. account, do what you need to do. You can view everything he's doing, and find out what hacks he is using. This is probably your best option. Best of luck to you!

 

[calculator.ftvb]

Now, if Xcode was excluded from his list of allowed apps and he bypass Parental Controls to get to it, that would be a sign of a programmer.

How true.

 

[wywern209]

Posts like this make me want to turn off emoticons...

You have the Internet, right? Use it. We're not telling you how to bypass parental controls.

They do it for a reason, you know. Woe upon you the day you get past them and find a little site called OurfayAnchay...

Hahaha! i had to google to find out what that site was and i ROFLed. Of course, i didn't actually go to site, there was a wiki or something about it.

EDIT: just figured out that i made 1000 posts 36 posts ago!

 

[desperateground]

I Would Luv Luv Luv Luv Luv!!!!!!! If He Could Email Me About How He's Hacking The Parental Controls!!!!! My Mom Blocked My Fave Site Facebook My Only Link 2 The Outside Wrld!!!!!!!!!!! Im An Addict And Luvin It!!!! Pls Pls Pls Tell Him He Must Or He's Having His Mac Taken Away!!!! So Yah Thnx THAT WOULD CERTAINLY CATCH M ATTETION

ask him how 2 find out an admin password w/o asking parents or having friends of parents find out 4 u!! mad:

um well yeah To reset your OS X password without an OS X CD you need to enter terminal and create a new admin account:

Reboot
Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now
After rebooting you should have a brand new admin account. When you login as the new admin you can simply delete the old one and you’re good to go again! Just make your account have no parental controls on it and make your old account admin and sign in and delete your new account and get rid of your admin power for your old account

 

[desperateground]

Well here are three things you can try.

If he has to go to the bathroom or something, take away the POWER CORD. Just unplug it and run. Hide it in a safe place and when you have the chance, give it to his parents and explain the situation.

Disable the network. He can't get online if there is no connection.

Find the install disc. Boot up to the disc. Go to the account settings and ENABLE the "Other.." option. Enable the SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR account. I suggest you put a very strong password, because this account has FULL control over the computer. It can even override the MASTER PASSWORD. Once my mom disabled my account confused: I have no idea WHAT she did XD) and I just booted up from the disc and restored it. (the password) if he gets hold of that disc or the S.E. account password, it's game over. That aside, once you enable the S.E. account, do what you need to do. You can view everything he's doing, and find out what hacks he is using. This is probably your best option. Best of luck to you!

To reset your OS X password without an OS X CD you need to enter terminal and create a new admin account:

Reboot
Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now
After rebooting you should have a brand new admin account. When you login as the new admin you can simply delete the old one and you’re good to go again!

 

[SL1]

Parental control fix

The parental control got also disable (schedule) on my mac computer, and my son was playing all day long. Tough that at 12 years old, my son was a genius.

However, I found that DiskWarrior, a very useful program that repair OSX system, manage to re enable Parental control. Now its working as is it suppose to be. I assume now that a system file got corrupted and it was not my son...

Time wil tell.

Cheers.

 

[pom32]

I found the glitch!!!

so all u hav to do is wait until the popup says u hav 1 min left.close it and minimize all windows.goto and select sleep (or if u hav macbook like i do, close the lid) wait untill the computer gets into deep sleep (hibernation) and wait another min. then wake it up and check the time.if u see bedtime ,than u have glitched parental controls!

*note
u may need to repeat this after 15 min or so...
EDIT:I'm doing this right now at 11:00 (my bedtime is at 10:00)