The Mac Observer

Skip navigational links

DealsOnTheWeb Daily Deal: OneCall's Weekend Sale - 20 Great Items at Great Prices All Weekend Long

Maynor's Apple Wi-Fi Hack Finally Published

by , 2:20 PM EDT, September 19th, 2007

David Maynor made a name for himself a year ago during the Black Hat Security Conference by demonstrating a wireless networking flaw that could potentially give someone unauthorized access to a Macintosh computer. His how-to is finally seeing the light of day -- over a year later -- at Uninformed.org, according to Computerworld.

Mr. Maynor demonstrated the security vulnerability on video instead of in person, and used a third party wireless networking card instead of Apple's AirPort Extreme card. As such, many people questioned the validity of his presentation.

Apple released a security fix in September 2006 for the type of threat Mr. Maynor described.

Mr. Maynor now claims he chose to use a third party wireless network card for his demonstration because that would be seen as less offensive to people. At the time of the Black Hat presentation, he said that he was bothered by what he called the "Mac user base aura of smugness on security."

He also stated that he held back the details of his security exploit because of a nondisclosure agreement with an unnamed company. That has now expired. "I published it now because I can publish it now," he said.

Even though Apple patched the potential security threat a year ago, Mr. Maynor thinks publishing his work now still holds value. In August 2007, however, his hack was mocked with a Pwnie award at the same conference he demonstrated at a year ago.

"There's a lot of interesting information in the paper that, if you're doing vulnerability research on Apple, you'd find useful," he said.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:coaten Posts: 2992 Joined: 10 Oct 2001
Subject:

Gosh, now that the findings are published, I'll have to be sure I don't put a third-party network card in my Mac - 'cos, you know, I couldn't live with the threat of someone in physical range maybe trying to exploit a hole that was plugged by Apple more than a year ago.

Thanks for the heads-up.

View Name:Guest
Subject:
View Name:Guest
Subject:
Close Name:coaten Posts: 2992 Joined: 10 Oct 2001
Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
You still don't get it. It works with an out of the box MacBook. That's how he discovered it. If you'd taken the time to read the paper you would have known. Incredibe: fanboys have to back off and they're still nasty.


Gee, you're right. Let me re-word my response:

Gosh, now that the findings are published, I'll have to be sure I don't use my laptop within range of suspicious chacters - 'cos, you know, I couldn't live with the threat of someone in physical range maybe trying to exploit a hole that was plugged by Apple more than a year ago.

Thanks for the heads-up.

So what's the fucking difference? Little, really. Same outcome.

View Name:Guest
Subject:
Comment on this Article


You cannot edit your comments.   You cannot delete your comments.
Log in | Register | Having Problems? Reset TMO Cookies & Try Again
Username:   Password:   Log me on automatically each visit   

You are not logged in, and this post will appear as "Guest." Log in with your username and password from the TMO forums. If you do not have a username, you can register here.
Please note that guests are limited to including a maximum of two URLs per post.


Post A Comment
  Subject


  Your Comments



Please enter the word exactly as you see it in the image above. Registered users aren't prompted for this. Having trouble reading the image get a new one.


Recent Headlines - Updated Saturday, September 6th, 2008

Sat., 3:45 PM
iPO Free on iTunes - Samurai Girl, Sonny Chiba, Tim and More
Fri., 5:30 PM
StrangeCharm - Particle Debris And No Soup For Microsoft (Week of Sep 1)
5:20 PM
User Friendly Blog by Ted Landau - Best Buy Polishes its Apple
5:05 PM
iPO The Back Page - Why Chrome? Think Apple
4:10 PM
iPodObserver - Nokia Warns of Weaker Q3, Global Economy and iPhone are Factors
3:30 PM
Apple Gaming News - Call of Duty 4 Embarks for Macs on September 15
2:30 PM
iPodObserver - Some iPhone Users Experiencing Syncing Problems via USB 2 Hub
1:45 PM
iPodObserver - TUNEWEAR Announces Clear Cases for iPhone 3G
1:10 PM
iPodObserver - MTS, Largest Russian Wireless Carrier, Lands iPhone Deal
12:00 PM
ATR: Low Expectations for Apple September 9 Event
10:10 AM
Hot Forum Topic - Reader Reactions: Seinfeld Microsoft Ad
9:15 AM
TMO Quick Tip - OpenDNS: Managing Your Internet Access
8:40 AM
CamSpinner 2 Improves FTP, AppleScript Support
8:05 AM
First Seinfeld Microsoft Ad Airs, Thin on Content
 

The Mac Observer Reader Specials

  • Special Report: WWDC 2008
  • Special Report: iPhone
  • __________
  • Help TMO Grow
  • Podcast: Mac Geek Gab
  • Podcast: Apple Weekly Report
  • TMO on Twitter!

Apple Stock Quote

  • AAPL: $160.18. Change Today: -1.04.
  • (Prices delayed up to 20 minutes.)
  • Discuss in our Apple Finance Board

Hot Topics

What's the buzz? These articles have TMO readers talking.

Top Deals From DealsOnTheWeb