Ask HN: Why is Mac still easy to backdoor?

by crypticlizard on 1/21/2020, 10:27:05 PM with 3 comments
This link describes the process: https://null-byte.wonderhowto.com/how-to/hacking-macos-configure-backdoor-anyones-macbook-0184637/

What I don't understand and why I'm asking this is, why isn't this patched? Should this be patched? What possible value or reason is there for it to be so easy to hack a mac not using filevault?

It appears that a firmware password prevents this problem. If this is so, then why isn't a firmware password more widely known about and encouraged?

  • by paraxisi on 1/21/2020, 10:33:49 PM

    Physical access is (nearly) always game over.

  • by muchofr on 1/21/2020, 10:38:31 PM

    This isn't really a hack, though.

    It's more like "How to configure standard system tools to do stuff you want."

    Potentially any modern O.S. will allow what is described in the article, if your privileges are root/admin.