November 29, 2004

• I was trying to learn how one might go about changing the password on a password-protected Mac disk image, but the first Google search result was the NSA's Mac OS X 'Panther' Security Configuration Guide. (It's a PDF file.)

  I love the idea that my Mac could be as secure as the NSA would want it to be, and that this report has 'Unclassified' stamped all over it. Some of the steps are pretty severe, mostly OpenFirmware settings such as a bootup password and forcing boot from only one device. No mention of target disk mode, however. I can't recall if that's override-able with OF.

  One of the more interesting security lock-down steps the NSA gives is to turn switch the default Sound In setting to line in, and keep a plug in the line in port of the computer. This is to avoid having the internal microphone on your laptop active. I'd bet there's a classified version of this document that says to install a sound input device driver that doesn't actually do anything, and set the sound in to that device. I wondered if such a dummy driver exists, and sure enough, the source code for it was already on my computer, right where Apple's Developer Tools CD installed it as sample code.

  Still no answer on how to change the password for a disk image, though. I guess one is stuck with making a new image, mounting it, copying the information over, and deleting the old one.

  • 7:34 pm
  • 2 Comments