OS X for Hackers at Heart. The Apple of Every Hacker's Eye

444 Pages·21.756 MB·English

by  Ken Caruso, Chris Hurley, Johnny Long, Preston Norvell, Tom Owad and Bruce Potter (Eds.)

cknowledgments
Syngress would like to acknowledge the following people for their kindness and sup
port in making this book possible.
Syngress books are now distributed in the United States and Canada by O'Reilly
Media, Inc. The enthusiasm and work ethic at O'Reilly are incredible, and we would
like to thank everyone there for their time and efforts to bring Syngress books to
market: Tim O'Reilly, Laura Baldwin, Mark Brokering, Mike Leonard, Donna Selenko,
Bonnie Sheehan, Cindy Davis, Grant Kikkert, Opol Matsutaro, Steve Hazelwood, Mark
Wilson, Rick Brown, Tim Hinton, Kyle Hart, Sara Winge, Peter Pardo, Leslie Crandell,
Regina Aggio Wilkinson, Pascal Honscher, Preston Paull, Susan Thompson, Bruce
Stewart, Laura Schmier, Sue Willing, Mark Jacobsen, Betsy Waliszewski, Kathryn
Barrett, John Chodacki, Rob Bullington, Kerry Beck, and Karen Montgomery.
The incredibly hardworking team at Elsevier Science, including Jonathan Bunkell, Ian
Seager, Duncan Enright, David Burton, Rosanna Ramacciotti, Robert Fairbrother,
Miguel Sanchez, Klaus Beran, Emma Wyatt, Chris Hossack, Krista Leppiko, Marcel
Koppes,Judy Chappell, Radek Janousek, and Chris Reinders for making certain that
our vision remains worldwide in scope.
David Buckland, Marie Chieng, Lucy Chong, Leslie Lim, Audrey Gan, Pang Ai Hua,
Joseph Chan, and Siti Zuraidah Ahmad of STP Distributors for the enthusiasm with
which they receive our books.
David Scott, Tricia Wilden, Marilla Burgess, Annette Scott, Andrew Swaffer, Stephen
O'Donoghue, Bee Lowe, Mark Langley, and Anyo Geddes ofWoodslane for distributing
our books throughout Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji,Tonga, Solomon
Islands, and the Cook Islands.
V
"echnical Editor and
Contributing Author
v^j Bruce Potter is a Senior Associate at Booz Allen
Hamilton. Prior to working at Booz Allen Hamilton,
Bruce served as a software security consultant for Cigital
in Dulles, VA. Bruce is the founder of the Shmoo Group
of security professionals. His areas of expertise include
wireless security, large-scale network architectures, smart-
cards, and promotion of secure software engineering prac
tices. Bruce coauthored the books 802.11 Security and Mac OS X
Security. He was trained in computer science at the University of
Alaska, Fairbanks.
First and foremost I would like to thank my family for putting up with
me and my time constraints due to the many projects I am dealing with. Vd
also like to thank The Shmoo Group for all the guidance and wisdom they
have imparted on me over the years. Finally, a big thank-you goes to
Syngress, for giving me the opportunity to work on an interesting enjoyable
project.
Bruce wrote Chapter 7.
ontributing Authors
Johnny Long is a "clean-living" family guy who just so
happens to like hacking stuff. Recently, Johnny has enjoyed
writing stuff and presenting stuff at conferences, which has
served as yet another diversion to a serious (and bill-
paying) job as a professional hacker and security researcher
for Computer Sciences Corporation. Johnny enjoys
spending time with his family, pushing all the shiny but
tons on them thar new-fangled Mac computers, and making much-
VII
"echnical Editor and
Contributing Author
v^j Bruce Potter is a Senior Associate at Booz Allen
Hamilton. Prior to working at Booz Allen Hamilton,
Bruce served as a software security consultant for Cigital
in Dulles, VA. Bruce is the founder of the Shmoo Group
of security professionals. His areas of expertise include
wireless security, large-scale network architectures, smart-
cards, and promotion of secure software engineering prac
tices. Bruce coauthored the books 802.11 Security and Mac OS X
Security. He was trained in computer science at the University of
Alaska, Fairbanks.
First and foremost I would like to thank my family for putting up with
me and my time constraints due to the many projects I am dealing with. Vd
also like to thank The Shmoo Group for all the guidance and wisdom they
have imparted on me over the years. Finally, a big thank-you goes to
Syngress, for giving me the opportunity to work on an interesting enjoyable
project.
Bruce wrote Chapter 7.
ontributing Authors
Johnny Long is a "clean-living" family guy who just so
happens to like hacking stuff. Recently, Johnny has enjoyed
writing stuff and presenting stuff at conferences, which has
served as yet another diversion to a serious (and bill-
paying) job as a professional hacker and security researcher
for Computer Sciences Corporation. Johnny enjoys
spending time with his family, pushing all the shiny but
tons on them thar new-fangled Mac computers, and making much-
VII
too-serious security types either look at him funny or start laughing
uncontrollably. Johnny has written or contributed to several books,
including Google Hacking for Penetration Tester9 from Syngress
Publishing, which has secured rave reviews and has lots of pictures.
Johnny can be reached through his website,
http: / /j ohnny.ihackstuff. com
Thanks first to Christ without whom I am nothing. To Jen, Makenna,
Trevor and Declan, my love always. Thanks to Bruce Potter for the opportu
nity to chime in on this one, and to my fellow co-authors. I hold you all in
the highest regard. Thanks to Anthony K,Al E, Ryan C, Thane E, and
Gilbert Vfor introducing me to the Mac. Thanks to Jaime Quigley, Andrew
Williams and all of Syngress. I canyt thank you enough. Thanks to Jason
Arnold (Nexus!) for hosting me, and all the mods onJIHSfor your help
and support. Shouts to Nathan B, Sujay S, Stephen S, James Foster, Jenny
Yang, SecurityTribe, the Shmoo Group, Sensepost, Blackhat, Defcon, Neal
Stephenson (Baroque), Stephen King (On Writing), Ted Dekker (Thr3e),
P.O.D., Pillar, Project86, Shadowvex,Yoshinori Sunahara. 'Tm sealing the
fate of my selfish existence / Pushing on with life from death, no questions
left / Tm giving my life, no lessy)
from A Toast To My former Self by Project8 6
Johnny wrote Chapter 2 and Chapter 5. He also contributed to the
technical editing of this book.
Ken Caruso is a Senior Systems Engineer for Serials Solutions
a Pro Quest company Serials Solutions empowers librarians
and enables their patrons by helping them get the most value
out of their electronic serials. Ken plays a key role in the design
and engineering of mission critical customer facing systems
and networks. Previous to this Ken has worked at Alteon, a
•
Boeing Company, Elevenwireless, and Digital Equipment
Corporation. Ken's expertises include wireless networking, digital
security, design and implementation of mission critical systems.
Outside of the corporate sector Ken is co-founder of
Seattlewireless.net one of the first community wireless networking
projects in the U.S.
Ken studied Computer Science at Daniel Webster College and is
a member of The Shmoo Group of Security Professionals. Ken has
been invited to speak at many technology and security events
including but not limited to Defcon, San Diego Telecom Council,
Society of Broadcast Engineers, and CPSR: Shaping the Network
Society.
Ken would like to acknowledge the great support he has always
received from friends and family as well the unflagging patience of
his editor at Syngress.
Ken wrote Chapter 3.
Chris Hurley (Roamer) is a Senior Penetration Tester
working in the Washington, DC area. He is the founder of
the Worldwide WarDrive, a four-year effort by INFOSEC
professionals and hobbyists to generate awareness of the
insecurities associated with wireless networks and is the
lead organizer of the DEF CON WarDriving Contest.
Although he primarily focuses on penetration testing
these days, Chris also has extensive experience performing vulnera
bility assessments, forensics, and incident response. Chris has spoken
at several security conferences and published numerous whitepapers
on a wide range of INFOSEC topics. Chris is the lead author of
WarDriving: Drive, Detect, Defend (Syngress, ISBN: 1-931836-03-5),
and a contributor to Aggressive Network Self-Defense (Syngress, ISBN:
1-931836-20-5) and InfoSec Career Hacking (Syngress, ISBN: 1-
59749-011-3). Chris holds a bachelor's degree in computer science.
He lives in Maryland with his wife Jennifer and their daughter
Ashley.
Chris wrote Chapter 4.
Tom Owad is a Macintosh consultant in south-central PA
and the D.C. area and vice president of Keystone
MacCentral. He serves on the board of directors of the
Apple I Owners Club, where he is also webmaster and
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archivist. Tom is owner and Webmaster of Applefritter, a Macintosh
community of artists and engineers. Applefritter provides its mem
bers with discussion boards for the exchange of ideas and hosts
countless member-contributed hardware hacks and other projects.
Tom holds a BA in computer science and international affairs from
Lafayette College, PA. Tom is the author of the Syngress title, Apple I
Replica Creation: Back to the Garage (ISBN: 1-931836-40-X).
Tom wrote Chapter 7. He is also the foreword contributor.
Preston Norvell is a computer and networking geek. He
has been fortunate to work as an administrator, engineer
and consultant, and currently works as a network architect
for a satellite communications company in the small town
of Alaska, USA. He has pulled Ethernet cable through
sewage melted by body heat, written the bill software for a
utility, co-written a book on Mac OS X Security, designed
and deployed systems and networks in places small and large, ported
Open Source software to Mac OS X, and many other rather silly
fun things.
In his off time he tinkers with computers and networks, thinks
about collections databases for museums, purchases entirely too
many DVD's, wastes too much time, cooks for friends when he can,
enjoys a spot of tea now and again, and continues to add to the
lived-in look of his dwelling at a reasonable pace. He also plans to
take over the world with a vast army of mind-controlled, monkey-
piloted robot minions.
I would like to thank Bruce and the folks at Syngress for the opportu
nity to tag along on this project, as well as their patience and guidance.
Apologies to my friends and co-workers for my absences and the late morn
ings with tired eyes and many thanks for their patience and support.
Thanks also to Hershey for Good & Plenty's, Republic of Tea for Blackberry
Sage and a little place in Chinatown for their white tea and lapsang sou
chong. And thanks much to the social insects all.
Preston wrote Chapter 1. He also contributed to the technical editing of
this book.
x
Foreword
"The computer for the rest of us" was never considered much of a hackers
platform. The original Mac didn't even have arrow keys (or a control key, for
that matter), forcing the user to stop what he was doing, take his hands off the
keyboard, and use the mouse. The Mac's case was sealed so tight, a special tool
known as the "Mac cracker" was made to break it open. It was a closed
machine, an information appliance. The expansionless design and sealed case of
the Mac stood in stark contrast to the Apple II that came before it.
With its rich graphical interface and ease of use, the Mac became the stan
dard for graphic artists and other creative types. Custom icons and desktop pat
terns soon abounded. The users that embraced the Macintosh for its simplicity
began using ResEdit (Resource Editor) to modify system files and to person
alize their machines. The Mac developed a fanatical following, and you could
rest assured that each fanatic s system was unique, with the icons, menus, pro
gram launchers, windows, sounds, and keyboard shortcuts all scrutinized and
perfected to meet his personal needs. My Color Classic even played Porky Pig's
"That's all folks" each time it shut down (although the novelty wore off on that
one pretty quick).
Mac OS X was met with some trepidation. It broke every program and
system modification, it didn't have a proper Apple menu—and what on earth
was this "dock"? Jef Raskin, who gave the Mac its name, wrote of Mac OS X,
"Apple has ignored for years all that has been learned about developing UIs. It's
unprofessional, incompetent, and it's hurting users." Bruce Tognazzini, founder
of the Apple Human Interface Group, even penned an article titled "Top 10
Reasons the Apple Dock Sucks."
XXI
xxii Foreword
Mac OS X was an entirely different operating system. Most classic Mac OS
applications were compatible, but only when operating inside a special run
time environment. All system extensions and user interface modifications were
permanently lost. For many users, these changes are what made the computer
"theirs" and they replied heavily upon their customizations to efficiently get
work done. The loss was tremendous. And it was worth it.
Preemptive multitasking, symmetric multiprocessing, multithreading, and
protected memory. Protected memory was the one I wanted most.
At a 1998 keynote, Steve Jobs showed off a mere dialog box, to great
applause. The dialog read: "The application Bomb has unexpectedly quit.You
do not need to restart your computer." I take it for granted on Mac OS X, but
as I write this, I'm recalling occasions when Internet Explorer brought my
entire system down multiple times in a single day.
Mac OS X promised to combine the power and stability of Unix with the
ease of use of Macintosh. I was cautiously optimistic with early releases (I've
been using Mac OS X since Developer Release 4).
Protected memory doesn't do much good when all your apps are running
in the Classic Environment, and the user interface did indeed leave a lot to be
desired. But with each revision, Mac OS X has improved dramatically. With
Mac OS 10.4 Tiger, I no longer even have the Classic Environment installed,
the user interface has improved to a degree that in many ways I far prefer it to
that of Mac OS 9. Mac OS X has succeeded in combining the best of Unix
with the best of the Macintosh.
The Macintosh has become "the computer for everybody." For novices, it
remains the easiest computer there is. For enthusiasts, as in the old days, there is
a vast array of third-party applications, utilities, and customizations, to tweak
and improve the way the OS works. For hackers and programmers, there's the
command line and the BSD Unix compatibility layer.
All the power, all the tools, and all the geekery of Linux is present in Mac
OS X. Shell scripts, XI1 apps, processes, kernel extensions... it's a unix plat
form. It's even possible to forgo Apple's GUI altogether and run KDE. Why
you'd want to is another matter. While its unix core is what has made Mac OS
X a viable platform for hackers and programmers, it's the user interface that has
made it popular.
Apple's Terminal application is perpetually running on my PowerBook, but
so is iTunes, iCal, and a slew of Dashboard Widgets.
Foreword xxiii
If Apple hadn't moved to Mac OS X, I would have two computers. A
classic Macintosh would be home to my "business" work—my email, calendar,
word processor, etc. The other would be a Linux box, which I would probably
connect to via an ssh connection from my Mac. Here would be the toys, the
programming tools, the shell scripts, and everything I couldn't do within the
confines of the old Mac. Thanks to the elegance and sophistication of Mac OS
X, this isn't necessary. I've got every program I want to run and every tool I
need to use on a single 4.6 lbs, 12" PowerBook.
—Tom Owad
www. applefritter. com
www.syngress.com
Chapter 1
A Network
Admin's Guide to
Using Mac OS X
Solutions in this chapter:
•. Running 3 Headless Mac -
• Adding Interfaces to a Mac
• The Macintosh as a Router
• Mac OS X as a RADIUS Server
M Summary
EI Solutions Fast Track
S3 Frequently Asked Questions
1