toggle

AAPL Stock: 431.77 ( -0.23 )

http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/08/02/evdo.for.macbook.pro/

Briefly: MBP hack video; EVDO for MBP

updated 11:45 pm EDT, Wed August 2, 2006

 

EVDO for MacBook Pro


In Brief: EVDO cards for high-speed direct internet access for MacBook Pros are coming, as one site is reporting that Verizon will launch and begin taking orders for the the Novatel V640 ExpressCard on Thursday, August 3, 2006.... One tutorial shows how to run a G4-based Mac mini using Li-ion/polymer batteries for just under two hours.... Following reports of the high-profile Coke-Tunes partnership, the companies have officially launched their new website, promoting a launch date of "09.08.06".... CNET has posted a video of the MacBook wireless driver hack in which two security researchers show that they can break into a laptop by exploiting a vulnerability in Wi-Fi drivers.... The Iconfactory is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the launch of all-new versions of Iconfactory.com and Stockicons.com, which are now hosted on Apple's xServe platform.


by MacNN Staff

Post tools:

TAGS :

 Apple

Related Articles

Recent Articles

toggle

Comments

  1. Haywire

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2001

    0
    08/03, 02:55am | report spam | Reply |

    3rd party SW hack

    It's easy to overlook what they did - but the guy did say it quickly at the beginning. They broke into the MacBook by using a 3rd party external WiFi card connected by USB to the MacBook. It is the 3rd party's WiFi software driver that was exploited - not the native Mac OSX WiFi driver software!

    So, yes. You can break into a MacBook with someone else's driver software if it is poorly written. However, I don't know many people who will use a 3rd party WiFi card in a Mac that comes with WiFi installed by Apple.

  1. dawho9

    Senior User

    Joined: Mar 2001

    0
    08/03, 03:15am | report spam | Reply |

    3rd Party

    I'm curious if they choose the 3rd party because you cannot hack into the native OSX driver or for some other reason. Also, I would be curious to see what brand that is.

    Lastly, they say at the beginning of the video that you do not have to be connected, but for the ease of the demonstration they use their attack machine as wifi access point - so you are connected to the attach machine already. So I would love to see the demo if they were not actively attached to it.

    That all said, it is a pretty darn scary video. What would be great is if these guys would list the drivers, OS that are affected by this bug/issue. The only way to get it solved is to have public ask for it.

    dw9

  1. cvbcvb

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2003

    0
    08/03, 03:41am | report spam | Reply |

    3rd Party...

    Who the h*** uses a “3rd Party Wireless Card” on a MacBook? Just how dumb are these two security experts? They’ve shown the upmost in stupidity.

    It’s obvious this “flaw” is only relevant under this inane scenario - time to worry about something else.

    CVB

  1. kw99

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2001

    0
    08/03, 05:23am | report spam | Reply |

    He says at the end

    of the video, "this is not a demonstration of a vulnerability in Mac OS X, but a general vulnerability in some third party device drivers" or word to that effect. They used "Mac OS X exploit" to attract attention, but in the end, it was not. They did not hack into the drivers for the MacBooks internal wireless hardware; they had to stick a third party wireless card into a MacBook that already has built in wireless.

    How stupid! Can go back to being "smug" about Mac OS X security. They proved the whole point. (1) Because Macs have built in wireless hardware, Mac users will not be using a third party wireless card. (2) They used a third party wireless card in a MacBook, because they apparently could not hack in through the built-in wireless hardware. (3) The laptops that would use such vulnerable wireless hardware is (yes that's right) a Windows laptop.

    Hey, wait a minute - That was a MacBook. How did this guy stick a "third-party wireless card" into a MacBook? It has no such port to accept that type of device.

  1. Radak

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2006

    0
    08/03, 05:26am | report spam | Reply |

    Re: 3rd party...

    You truly are an idiot, CVB.

    As was mentioned in the video more than once, this was not a demonstration of a hack against Apple or any specific Apple configuration. It is a proof of concept of a never-before-seen variety of network attack. The attack was probably executed against a Mac because this was a hardware configuration on which the specific attack works.

    As David said, this is a systemic problem, not an Apple problem. The fact that it was executed against an Apple system is meaningless. They were merely demonstrating a potential threat of a poorly-tested device driver.

    Stop being such a kneejerk defense Apple fanboy already and listen to what people tell you.

  1. kw99

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2001

    0
    08/03, 05:47am | report spam | Reply |

    OK, I repeat...

    I just checked the tech specs for a MacBook. It was definitely a black MacBook that guy pull out as the "victim" laptop. The MacBook has no port/slot to accept a "third-party wireless card." Where was that guy sticking that thing on the right side of the MacBook (the hidden side from the camera angle). This is the right side of a MacBook.

    http://www.apple.com/macbook/design.html

    Not only is this demo totally lame, it is totally fake...!

  1. + spiral +

    Dedicated MacNNer

    Joined: Jun 2001

    0
    08/03, 04:38pm | report spam | Reply |

    USB

    kw99: USB. The macbook has some of those things.

  1. kw99

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2001

    0
    08/03, 05:59pm | report spam | Reply |

    re: usb

    Those are typically called USB wireless network "adapter" because they look like those little flash drives, not those PC "cards" you insert into the slot. I don't know what that white card thing that guy had was exactly, but it didn't look like any USB wireless network adapter I've ever seen. If this demo was real, they went out of their way to make it look fake... or they are just a bunch of idiots.

  1. Haywire

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2001

    0
    08/03, 06:37pm | report spam | Reply |

    kw99 Look again

    It is a USB WiFi card. You can see the connector on the end of the card just before he plugs it in.

  1. Haywire

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2001

    0
    08/03, 06:41pm | report spam | Reply |

    Here's some

    There are several USB WiFi cards at this site:

    http://www.directron.com/usbwifi.html

Show More Comments

Login Here

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

 
close
Photo
toggle

Network Headlines

toggle

Most Popular

MacNN Sponsor

Recent Reviews

Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio for iPad

Since the fourth-generation iPad didn't evolve much over its predecessor, the market for iPad accessories has remained somewhat static ...

Huawei Ascend Mate

The Huawei Ascend Mate is a phone that fits the screen-size gap between the 4 to 5-inch smartphone and the seven-inch or more tablet, ...

MaxUpgrades MaxConnect for 2006-2008 Mac Pro

Nobody outside of Cupertino's privileged bunch knows the future of the Mac Pro line for sure. Despite Apple's reluctance to tell us wh ...

toggle

Most Commented

 

Popular News