Apple Patents Power Adapter That Recovers Lost Passwords

Sparrowvsrevolution writes "Apple has patented a power charger that also serves as a password recovery backup. If a user forgets his Macbook's password, for instance, he simply plugs in the cord, and it would provide a unique ID number stored in a memory chip in the adapter that acts as a decryption key, unscrambling an encrypted copy of the password stored on the machine. The technique, according to the patent, incentivizes better password use by avoiding traditional password recovery techniques that annoy users and lead to disabled or easily-guessed passwords. The new technique is only secure, the patent admits, in cases where the user leaves a mobile device's charger at home. So the idea may make the most sense for long-battery-life devices like iPods, iPads and iPhones rather than laptops, at least until laptop batteries last long enough that users don't take their power adapters with them and expose them to theft."

Comments

Reasonably stupid

[Anrego]

Well that's a reasonably stupid idea. Store the password with something many users are going to carry around with their laptop...

And even if you didn't.. you forget your password on the road, then what? And this is less annoying than having to answer a previously entered question?

Re:Reasonably stupid

[Lumpy]

"And even if you didn't.. you forget your password on the road, then what? "

you suffer the consequences. You know life has those.

Re:Reasonably stupid

[Jazari]

As the summary says, this is not for laptops. But I find it a very good idea for all kinds of other devices, and well deserving of a patent.

Re:Reasonably stupid

[RingDev]

I would admit that there are too many people who fail to acknowledge their responsibilities, but I would venture that there are even more people who make a living by convincing/tricking people into failing to acknowledge their responsibility.

-Rick

And in one move

[Kazymyr]

Kills the 3rd party accessory market. Because you won't be able to get "crypto" power blocks from anyone else. Wanna bet?

Re:And in one move

[TheGatesofBill]

Can you get Magsafe power adapters from anyone else anyways? I've never seen any, and a quick Googling says no.

Re:And in one move

[IVI V K]

Apples magsafe power supply uses as patented magnetic connector.
As far as i know there is no 3rd party power block available for mac laptops due to this connector.

They have already "killed" this accessory market.

Re:And in one move

[djsmiley]

Not to mention the extra sale this can add to a mac book sale

Sir, you also want our "mobile adapter" - it allows you to charge your mac book anywhere, and if someone was to steal it, they wouldn't be able to reset your password using it! Brilliant isn't it? We do it in black, or white.

Re:And in one move

[slartibartfastatp]

Can you get Magsafe power adapters from anyone else anyways? I've never seen any, and a quick Googling says no.

Our friends from China say "yes, you can". I burned two original magsafe PA, then bought this one by U$ 30 (w/ shipping) two years ago. Still working.

Re:And in one move

[Speare]

I'll repeat a post I wrote on this previously.

I really liked the MagSafe(tm) concept when Apple first came out with it, but Apple has been such a fucking prick about the damned things. They don't offer any significant range of options to use the plug, and they actively stymie all attempts of the marketplace to fill that void. Want a piggy-back battery to supply power to the laptop? Apple doesn't make one. Want to tie in with a docking station? Apple doesn't make one. At first, when asked about third party adoption of the plugs, they were "oh, well, I guess they'll start coming out any time now." Then it was "oh, well, guess nobody's trying to license them." Then when manufacturers tried to license them, they were refused. So one manufacturer decided to eat the waste and rely on the doctrine of First Sale. They BOUGHT Apple(tm) adapters, chopped off the white wallwart transformer, and soldered the MagSafe(tm) pigtail to their own battery packs, and they were still attacked by Apple's lawyers. WTF, Apple. People have varying needs to make use of your products. Step up to offer the solution, or get out of the way.

Re:And in one move

[dubbreak]

I bought one from there too (85w for my macbook, since I thought it might run cooler).

The led on the magsafe connector doesn't work, but the adapter works great and was a lot cheaper than the official one. Apparently the t-style magsafe aren't very robust and the internal cable gets wrecked. Of course Apple doesn't make that part of the adapter easily replaceable like the power cord (which is much less likely to get wrecked). They really should make it a replaceable part. Dell builds a sturdier power adapter for their entry level laptops (at least in my experience).

I wonder how this is better

[chispito]

Than a normal USB security token? It seems like a power adapter is likely to be taken with the user. A smaller token could be carried on the person of the user. Or you can just write your password on a post-it in your wallet.

Re:I wonder how this is better

[TheRaven64]

It's different in one very important way: you are much less likely to lose the power adaptor than the security token. You'll use the power adaptor every day or two, while you'll only use the security token when you get locked out of your device. It's like the original iPod dock: my iPod was the only mobile device I owned that never had the battery go flat. The dock plugged into my HiFi so I could listen to music at home and so I had a reason for always dropping it in the charger. Every other mobile device got plugged in when I noticed it needed charging (Apple, cleverly, no longer includes the dock, so loses this advantage).

So, Apple think all their users are single...

[PSVMOrnot]

Security is only as strong as it's weakest password recovery method.

This whole idea completely forgets that the whole purpose of your password might be to stop you little-brother/offspring/tech-illiterate-housemate (ie: anyone who lives with you) from screwing up your device.

OSX Password recovery is trivial as it is

[slaker]

Seriously?

Boot while holding down Apple-S
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now

Bam. Administrator access and all the password resetting glory you need thereafter.

I don't even have a Mac and I know how to do it. How fucking easy does it need to be?

Re:OSX Password recovery is trivial as it is

[maccodemonkey]

"I don't even have a Mac and I know how to do it."

Which explains why you don't know that FileVault or a firmware password (both recommended by Apple for secure machines) blocks this.

Re:Apple tax

[ackthpt]

As if they need a technical restriction, when they're so heavy handed with the legislative restrictions.
I'd never buy, for example a phone, that didn't have a micro USB charger, or a stereo that had a wacky propitiatory interface like an "ipod dock".

It shouldn't be legal to block or tax 3rd party accessory makers, and what's needed is more forced standards for consumer screwing companies like Apple.

It's only an Apple Tax (same as a Microsoft Tax) if you go that way.

Every time you buy into some proprietary technology you sell a little piece of your soul.

Huh?

[Brooklynoid]

From TFA: "So the idea may make the most sense for long-battery-life devices like...iPhones"

In what universe is an iPhone a "long-battery-life" device?

How about this

[mysidia]

Put another chip in the wall outlet, that will communicate with a charger device using BPL, Data over Powerline, short range communications, RFID, or bluetooth; e.g. a "Password recovery" agent installed in a device somewhere else in the home plugged into another wall outlet, or built in to the outlet itself. wireless AP, linksys box, NAS, TVs, other home appliances would be good candidates to form a BPL-enabled self-organizing P2P network for facilitation of password recovery and theft prevention.

Some of the devices could incorporate a GPS location reading. If the device's location has changed significantly, then it is less familiar.

When the user logs into their computer, and authenticates, there will be a program they run on their computer to cause the power unit to "learn" which will scan the BPL or bluetooth for other devices.

Require the presence of other "familiar" home devices, for the password recovery procedure to be initiated.

This could also help if the charger got damaged or lost... just plug a new one in, enter the "House PIN #", and have it build the same shared secret key based on the identities of the familiar devices surrounding it that have an agreed upon shared key.

Also, high theft-risk non-mobile devices could enter an auto-lockdown mode, if powered on and no "familiar devices" are around.

Cool, just added it to my charger

[iamacat]

All it took is sticking a PostIt note on the side. Can I now patent moving the sticky to the inside of my closet, where it will be more secure from friends and allow me to take the charger for travel?

Not so stupid

[mschaffer]

The more junk they cram in the power adapters, the harder it is for 3-rd party companies to make copies without Apple's consent.

Re:good idea

[GameboyRMH]

If it's trivial and non novel then why is no one doing it or previously put a patent on it?

Well apart from the fact that this particular idea is stupid (thus, nobody doing it), sometimes things just luckily don't get patented, like "fuel cells on a computer" and "fuel cells on a cell phone" which were both shockingly not patented up until this year. Somehow even among swarms of lawyers, a few conceivable ideas go unpatented sometimes. Shocking, I know.

This idea is both trivial (passing data to a power adapter which attaches to a port that can also pass data? Wow not like half the USB-charged devices on the planet do that!) and non-novel (acts as a security key like the metric shit-tons of USB fobs that have been on the market over the last decade).

Re:good idea

[TheGratefulNet]

wrong. at least this time ;)

lots of good reasons for apple to do this. they want you to continue to use apple hardware and they have a lock-in effect going on. other than that mag-lock stuff, a power brick was a power brick. batteries are starting to be chipped/locked, but so far, I've not seen power sources be locked.

I bet we'll see that soon, though.

also, apple did this because they could, not because its a strikingly good idea for the world. you *can* send data comms along a power path and double-up on it. you *can*. but is there a good reason to? there sure is value in keeping power sources somewhat dumb. they push power (current) at you at a fixed voltage or voltage set. no need to crypto-up that path!

I bet there is also a patent defense plan here. anyone who wants to 'talk' along that path will probably get hit with an apple patent threat-suit, legit or not.

it does seem like a dumb idea, overall; but apple is getting a few things from this. its not about users. heh - lately, nothing is ever about the users (benefit).

Obligatory "this is not a patent"

[deblau]

This is not a patent, this is an application publication. You can tell because it says "pub no" in the upper right corner instead of "patent no". For reference:

Link to publication from TFA
Link to a real patent (believe it or not)

TFA author can't tell the difference, which is incredibly obvious once you know what you're looking for. And a lot of applications never become a patent.

Now that the application has published, anyone who knows of any prior art might be able to let the patent office know about it if this application isn't examined before the new law kicks in September 16 this year. See the America Invents Act, section 8 (starts bottom of page 32).