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Prevent Insecure Booting Of Your Mac

Posted by pudge on from the just-do-not-lose-your-password dept.

maxphunk writes "So you can boot anyone's Mac using a CD or (for newer machines) mount the hard drive using target disk mode. Therefore, your machine isn't secure, right? Stock, yes; otherwise, no. Apple has a neato utility described here that eliminates this problem and more, using Open Firmware Password Protection. I have installed it on my iBook (late 2001) and I am definitely pleased with the results." It requires Mac OS X 10.1 or greater, and prevents things like starting up in single user mode, verbose mode, resetting PRAM, and more.

2 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. BIOS Password. Big deal. by Chasing+Amy · · Score: -1, Troll

    So, Apple has just now told its users how to use a function equivalent to the BIOS passwords available to PC users for many years now, which prevent hardware and BIOS setting changes without the password.

    Not to be trollish, but c'mon--once again Apple is just now reaching a functionality with a fair equivalent in the PC world. Why am I not impresed? OS X is impressive, but on the hardware side of things, Macs have done nothing impresdsive for years.

    As an old Mac fan who got started out with computers in a lab full of 68k's and two glorious new PPC 7200's, I keep wanting Apple to impress me with their hardware (not by shaping and coloring the plastic, either). Announcements of OpenFirmware doing things PC BIOS's have been doing for at least six years don't qualify as impressive; they underline the very lack of impressiveness.

    Hey Apple, impress me dammit! Give me something to make your hardware worth twice the price of a PC I can build with my own two hands...

    --

    Chasing Amy
    (We all chase Amy...)
    "The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws"-Tacitus
  2. Re:BIOS Password. Big deal. by zrodney · · Score: 0, Troll

    ha ha ha ha ha !!

    I think the last line is the best:
    "I am an apple service technician"

    so mr apple guy, why did solaris, ibm, hp,
    sgi, cray, and any other large system have
    console access boot passwords then?

    many of the older ones don't even have one
    mouse button like your apple, so it must be
    even better, right? less complicated.

    ha ha ha ha

    Its funny when the apple people believe their
    own made up history -- and think the mistakes
    were divine inspiration and good design.

    * no second mouse button? GREAT!
    * no boot password? FANTASTIC!
    * fruity colors and transparency?