Is the Mac OS really this easy to crack?

My wife, a therapist, has been required to use computer equipment and file encription that is HIPAA compliant for medical privacy issues. She was told by her trainers that the mac had little to no security and was easily cracked. I was surprised and I told her the mac was pretty secure. I googled teh issue.
It would seem, from the following link, that I may have been very wrong. Is it really this easy to get into a stolen mac? Can the system password be so easily circumvented? If this is true, even I, who know next to nothing about computer programming, could hack a mac and get to all the data.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOq3aiRb57Y

This is not specific to the Mac. Any time a hacker has physical access to any computer - Mac, Windows, Linux, whatever - data can be accessed almost trivially.
The only exception to this is data that is properly encrypted. Such data cannot be accessed by a hacker, provided that the encryption is strong, and that the password is strong and not stored somewhere that the hacker can access. On a Mac, you can accomplish this with FileVault, as Bob mentions. Automatic login must be disabled, and the user password must be strong. This will keep an attacker out of your data... unless they can get you to subvert your own system by installing malware, but that's very rare on the Mac.

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I purchased 2 books for my iPad and they downloaded successfully. They show up in iTunes when my iPad is connected to my Mac but do not show up on the Mac. Is this a synch issue? When I click the Synch box I am warned that downloads on my iPad will be

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You should be able to copy them to your computer's iTunes via File > Transfer Purchases and you can then sync them to the iPhone (or you could re-download them directly on the iPhone)

I have CS4 on a PC. I have bought a new MAC. How do I install my CS4 on the MAC- it seems this is a windows license.

I have CS4 on a PC. I have bought a new MAC. How do I install my CS4 on the MAC- it seems this is a windows license.

The license is only good for Windows and is too old to qualify for a platform swap. The only option you might have is to install Windows emulation software on the Mac and install CS4 thru that.

I have anew iMac, less than 3 months old - over the past few days i notice my wireless mouse keeps looksing contact with the mac. why is this? anything i can do ?

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[SOLVED] RAID1 for Storage Drives: Is it really this easy...

I currently have a simple file server set up that uses the nVidia controller (NVRAID) on the MoBo to control the RAID1 arrays for the storage drives. Currently I'm using all four of the NVRAID controller sata ports yet I find myself needing to expand a bit and that has led me to search for a different solution. I've been looking at documentation for mdadm and it seems so simple, since the OS is on it's own non-RAID drive, that I am concerned I'm missing something. Assuming each disk will only have a single partition would it really be as easy as making my backups, disabling the NVRAID controller and following the simple commands below to have a functioning RAID1 setup ready to load with data? Also will this work the same on a PCI or PCI-E SATA Port adapter card?
Set the partition type with
# fdisk /dev/sd?
# fdisk /dev/sd?
Just to be safe make sure there is no existing superblock
# mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sd? /dev/sd?
Create a RAID1 array
# mdadm --create /dev/md0 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 /dev/sd?1 /dev/sd?1
Format /dev/md0 as ntfs:
# mkfs.ntfs /dev/md0
Mount the Array
# mkdir /myfoldername
# mount /dev/md0 /myfoldername
Then I just make sure to update fstab and mdadm.conf files to make sure the arrays are auto-mounted.
Thanks
Last edited by imatechguy (2010-08-05 02:38:18)

fukawi2 wrote:
Yes, it is that easy
Although, why do you want to use NTFS?
Excellent thanks, it just seemed so easy I was sure I must be missing something. Most of the information I found was about creating an array to install the OS files to so it was a bit confusing at first. Aaaand, I don't want to use NTFS at all but I haven't convinced the wife to give up 'doze yet so I have to keep these files accessible for her PC.
fukawi2 wrote:And don't forget that you are recreating the array, so you will loose all the data currently on the drives! (You seem to already know this since you're running mkfs but for the benefit of anyone who finds this in the future with the same question )
Yep, but I appreciate the reminder. In addition to adding more HDD's I'm also migrating to larger drives so I can afford to start from scratch, and I intend to make backup images before doing anything anyway. They've saved my bacon more than once so I always make sure they're up to date.
fukawi2 wrote:
EDIT
Also will this work the same on a PCI or PCI-E SATA Port adapter card?
As long as the kernel has drivers for the card, then it doesn't matter to mdadm. The kernel should just present the drive as a block device in /dev/
AND, don't forget to 'modprobe raid1' before you start to load the kernel module for RAID.
Good to know since this thing will eventually store data for personal use, my wife's photography business and the movie files for HTPC box (once I build it) it's going to have a lot of HDDs with everything being mirrored.
Okay that modprobe one made me look. Basically that just loads the Raid modules for a kernel when the system is prexisting and already running to avert needing to reboot to load them... right?
Thanks for the help it really is greatly appreciated.

Mac adds automatically a suffix when downloading a file. How to stop the Mac from doing this?

I want to download a gps-file for my tomtom navigation system.
These files have the suffix .itn
When downloading, OS X transforms the file from filename.itn to filename.itn.txt automatically, therefore adds an ".txt", and opens the texteditor with the file.
I just want OS X to leave the file as it ist and add or do nothing to or with it. Just put it in the download-folder.
When hiding the suffix with apple-i, the file is no longer readable for the navi system. There ist no option to tell the mac just to do nothing; you just can select a different app. But this is not the solution.
What can I do?
Thanks
Mathias

Limnos wrote:
I use a much older version of Safari when I do use it. I have that unchcked but when I download a file Safari just downloads it without any prompt for a file name. What the OP needs is a way to change how Safari handles downloads so it either identifies them correctly and stops adding the wrong extenion to a file, or a way to edit the file name at download time. My old version doesn't have any apparent way to configure either of these, but I can do it in Firefox.
What?
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Is The 6280 camera really this bad?

6280: > k510: >
Click to enlarge.
My k510 with 1.3mp take better photos then the 6280 with 2mp.
And swithcing from low quality to high quality in the options does absolutely nothing.
So should i replace this phone, or all the 6280 have this poor camera quality?
Thx in advance.

i understand, it's just something about nokia's camera phones, the pictures are always not sharp or clear, but sony ericsson i think have the best quality, take the phone back if you don't like the quality of the images, though i don't really need crisp quality
Nokia N95
V 20.0.015
0546553

Is the slice tool really this buggy?? (pics)

I am trying to create images for a website using the slice tool.
When I try to create a slice from selection, it looks ok on the artboard (pixel preview mode), but it shifts the whole slice when exporting!
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ALSO: the slice select tool, when resizing a slice, seems to snap to invisible things!? I have snapping disabled in the View menu. What is the deal? Is slicing in Illustrator really that broken? Or am I missing something??
I've tried searching around the net and nothing seems to explain this strange behaviour..

Hi Sinrise,
The problem with the save for web feature in both Illustrator and Photoshop is that png files can only be saved as full 24bit colour with true 8bit transparency - the user cannot save, for example, a 16 colour version with full 8bit transparency.
It means web "optimized" png versions that are output by Illustrator are often far bigger in file size than what is actually possible with other (free) web optimization utilities - at the same quality.
At this point Gif should be avoided (many reasons), and only be used for smaller animated web graphics. Gif does not support full transparency, only indexed, which means it is either on or off. No 50% transparency is possible in Gif. In the end Gif results in larger versions than Png anyway.
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Because with 8bit indexed png files we get fringes or ragged non-antialiased edges with transparent backgrounds.
Here is what I am talking about (open the original image to compare):
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Only Fireworks currently has the option to save png images with full transparency and indexed colours. And we know that FW is scrapped. Twisting the knife in the wound even more, Color Quantizer also allows the user to save limited colour palettes of 512, 1024, 2048 and 4096 colours! And a simple to use quality mask tool is available for difficult cases to safeguard essential artwork areas from degrading in colours!
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ps RIOT (Radical Image Optimization Tool) also does a better job at jpg optimization, and again the user has more control than the save for web option delivers.

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All of the pages on the UK site say iLife 06 including http://www.apple.com/uk/macpro/specs.html and the online store.
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Hello. I bought a new iMac 27" with the following specs:
3.5GHz Intel Core i7 Quad-Core (Haswell)
32GB of 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
3TB Fusion Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M Graphics (4GB)
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Thunderbolt, USB 3.0, SDXC Card Reader
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Why cant i re-download xcode 4 for snow leopard from the mac app store?

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I found some typical USB pedals, examples here:
http://www.altoedge.com/pedals/
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Well, this took me a while to get solved, but it is indeed solved.
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Is the Mac OS really this easy to crack?

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