Security issue: Firewire Target Mode

Hi everyone,
I am concerned about the firewire target mode. As handy as it can be, what about security? I have some very confidential files on my computer and I wonder if there is a way to make sure that nobody can access my files via target mode.
Is there a way to disable target mode? Or to set a password for the target mode?
And I have a back-up on an external firewire drive. Is it possible to password-protect an external drive?
Thanks for your help!
Jan
MacBook Pro 17" Mac OS X (10.4.9) Pro Tools 7.3 / Logic 7.2

FireWire Target Disk Mode falls under the category of "physical access," and there's an old computer saying that no matter what security you use, once an attacker has direct physical access to the hardware, all bets are off, because of the possibility of simply removing the hard drive and putting it in another case to gain access. Therefore, you should concentrate on avoiding theft or unauthorized access to your laptop, like never leaving it visible in an unattended car. You could also turn on FileVault.
I don't use FileVault because I don't want to tie up my CPU unnecessarily encrypting all the huge video, audio, and photo files within my Home folder. However, I do keep all my most sensitive documents (financial, etc) inside an encrypted disk image on my PowerBook hard drive. Anything with an account number or other confidential data is stored in there, and it's only mounted when I really need it.
For the backup, count me as yet another person who keeps backups on encrypted disk images on the external hard drive. It's an extra step to mount it before the backup and dismount it afterwards, but not that much of an obstacle really, and it's pretty safe.

Similar Messages

Booting from firewire target mode on a mac pro with kernel panic?

hello
i am wondering if it is possible to use firewire target mode to boot a mac pro that has never got past a multi language kernel panic on boot?
basically i have tried all the other options and cant get it to open the superdrive to insert my installation disk, as to repair the drivers with my snow leopard disk.
i've tried holding my mouse key down, the paperclip option on the drive itself and the firmware keycombo, so my idea is that the only way to fix it is with target mode. can this be done - and if so - could someone direct me towards a tutorial that will help me do this.
please advise if this is possible or if there is another method i should use? apart from taking it to the applestore (extreme last ditch option) i am quite low on ideas here.
many thanks!
p.s heres the message i wrote for the original problem which caused all the kernel panics;
"i recently bought a mac pro and upon starting it for the first time opted to transfer the all the data i could over via firewire from my macbook pro.
i used the standard 't' command with the firewire symbol.
Somewhere towards the end of the transfer (I am not sure at what pont - I wasnt there for all of it) - , the monitor went blank and the whole thing was unresponsive. my macbook's firewire sign continued to move around the screen.
after leaving it for some time i decided to turn off the macbook and then the mac pro.
i restarted the macbook and got some pretty crazy stuff happening to my calender - but so far everything seems to be fine.
i am more concerned about the "you need to restart your computer" message; this is the dreaded 'kernel panic' right?. i have never actually done anything with this computer yet, and it was purchased new."

"i recently bought a mac pro and upon starting it for the first time opted to transfer the all the data i could over via firewire from my macbook pro.
Never opt to transfer until you have insured it works fine for a couple days, I would never use Setup or Migration Assistant until such time, and I would have a bootable backup clone.
Try pulling all the hard drives from inside your Mac Pro and boot from OS X DVD - latest OS build.

Stuck in Firewire Target Mode

Hey all...
How do I get my G4 out of Firewire Target Mode?

The paradigm is that you have created an expensive firewire disk by putting your computer into TDM.
So, the first step is to unmount it (select, drag to trash in the computer you connected it to, or select and command-E to eject). That gives the non-TDM computer time to flush its buffers and make the filesystem on the TDM computer OK.
Then you disconnect the cable and power down (hold the power button).
Details:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
Russ

How to set permissions in firewire target mode?

I have a 12" PowerBook that's running Leopard and a 15" MacBook Pro also running Leopard. The 12" machine won't boot, so I'm about to wipe the hard drive, reinstall Leopard, and try to reload from the time capsule.
But since I don't really know for sure that Time Machine has been running, I'd like to make a backup first. I connected the machines with firewire cable and booted the 12" machine in target mode. It shows up in the Finder on the 15". But when I open the Users folder, it doesn't show anything. I'm guessing that there's a Permissions problem that I don't know how to overcome. How can I make a disk image of the current disk before I start the restore procedure?
Chuck

You can grab a utility named "SuperDuper!" ( http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html ) which is able to create clones of hard drives.
If all you want to do is have it clone your hard drive then they allow you to use it free. They charge to unlock all of it's more advanced features -- but for what you need to do (make one simple clone of your hard drive before wiping it and re-installing) it's free.
Incidently, did you try booting from your Leopard install disk to attempt a repair? Pop in the Leopard install media & boot from it. You'll need to select your language on that first screen, but once you do you'll notice a menubar appears at the top of the screen (that most people don't notice) and there's a pull-down menu that'll let you launch Disk Utility. Since you booted from external media (and not your internal disk) it will let you run a "Repair Disk" on the internal boot drive. It may be able to repair it without your needing to reformat and re-install.

FireWire Target mode and multiple partitions or volumes

Hello,
If I take my laptop and split it into two partitions, then put it in FW mode and attach it to another mac, with both volumes mount, or just the first one as laid out on the disk?
Let's say only the first volume mounts, can I put files there, and then install Leopard on the 2nd partition and have Leopard boot ok or does it need to be on the first partition??
Thanks

Both partitions will appear. Both can be made bootable.

Mac mini won't mount in Firewire target mode

I connect one non-booting Mac mini to one working Mac mini and tried to get the data off the non-booting one, but it won't mount.
When I try to repair the disk using the Disk Utility from the working mini, it says:
Verify and Repair disk “disk1s3”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Invalid node structure
Invalid node structure
Catalog file entry not found for extent
Volume check failed.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because
of an error
How can I get my data off the computer. I can reinstall the OS, but I have data in Application Data folder that I want to save too. Also, does Archive install save the whole user directory including Application Data?
I also have some files made in GarageBand saved in the Music folder.
I hope that someone can help me!

If Disk Utility cannot repair the drive then you may want to consider investing in a product like Alsoft's DiskWarrior…
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/
Given your symptoms I doubt you'll be able to do anything at all, barring an erase and install, in the drive until you get the disk repaired.

How can I re-activate my creative cloud with a firewire disc in target mode?

I am a hurrricane evacuee. I have lost my home to flooding. It will be months before I get my original internet connection back, if ever. I am staying at a friends and they have wifi, but I am not allowed to reboot their router or their modem. I have an old 7 year old mac book pro that won't run all the CS6 apps, and a mac pro 1.1 that will, but does not have wifi. I tried to tether the mac pro to the laptop and share the wifi to re-activate, but the mac pro is not picking up the connection without rebooting the homeowner's cable modem and router, which I am forbidden to do. So I am considering finding some firewire cable somewhere and trying to run the mac pro in firewire target mode, with the mac book pro connected to wifi internet to try to re-activate. Does anyone know if this will work? Also, is there any way to know which day of the month your subscription has to activate? I am going to be shuttling from one couch to another for some time, and if I am lucky enough to drag my mac pro along, I will have to keep doing this.
Suggestion- Adobe should have a special alternate system for people who lost their internet and homes due to hurricane sandy and do not have wifi machines.

Hi Kay,
Sorry to hear about your difficulties on a lot of different levels . I'm inclined to think the target mode will not work because the activation process is reliant on the OS as part of the way it works. I think the target disk mode just treats the secondary system as an external drive - so the activation would be only affect the old mac book pro and not the apps on the target drive. But I could be wrong, it still might be worth testing given the circumstances. The activation process starts on the 11th of every month for your account.
-Dave

Will firewire target disc mode work if memory is bad?

My iBook G4 800mhz 640mb stoped booting osx 10.4.6 yesterday, all I get is gray, it will not even go to the apple logo screen and the HD sounds like it is going nuts. Lucally I have all my data backed up exept the project that I was currently working on when it locked up. I took my iBook home and connected a fire wire to my macmini hoping to retrive my project(which I have done a few times in the past.) this time the computer seamed to boot in target mode (the firewire symbol was on the screen) but the macmini did not see the iBook's HD. I tried a few tiems to no avail. I dug around in my closet and found my original osx10.4.3 DVD in hopes that I could run disc utility to fix whatever is going on. I booted with the DVD and It got as far as the grey apple logo and the spinning icon underneath but it hung there for about two hours with the HD going through what sounded like lots of searching. I had to give up at that point because it was 3AM. I do have a kensington 512MB memory upgrade in the iBook (which has been installed and working for around a year) and I was wondering if the memory could be screwed up causing the computer not to boot. Which leads into my question about the firewire target mode using the system memory. I guess another question would be will an iBook boot whith the only the original hard wired 128MB of ram and nothing in the SODIMM slot?
Thank you for any help.
-Jayson
iBookG4/Macmini/ iPod x3/HPtower x2/Dell(Lin)tower/IBMlaptop x2 Mac OS X (10.4.6) my PEBKAC
iBookG4/Macmini/MacPro/ iPod x3/HPtower x2/Dell(UNIX)tower/IBMlaptop x2 Mac OS X (10.4.5) I cant seam to be able to RTFM

ooooooooops sorry to all you iBook G3 owners. I should not be let close to a computer until I have been given my caffiene in the morning. by the way removing the memory does not change any thing aparently.

Can't get Mac Pro to see G5 in target mode

Hi all,
I am trying to get some files from my G5 over to my Mac 8 core Pro. When I try put the Mac into target mode the Mac Pro doesn't pick up the G5?
Could it be because I am using a firewire 400 to 800 cable from the G5 to Mac Pro?
Cheers in advance
Darren

I was having issues with target mode a few weeks ago when I found this on the Apple site:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

Zero Erase time frame via target mode?

Hi,
I am currently doing a zero pass erase on my old iMac. It's video card died a death a while ago and I am intending on selling it for parts. It has a 750GB HD with about 500GB of data.
I have it connected up in firewire target mode to my new iMac and am doing it via that so that I can see what I am doing.
My question is, it has been running for about five hours now and it is forecast to take another 32 hours. Is this duration to be expected?

How are you doing this security erase? Are you following this procedure:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
If it's still estimating such a long completion time then it must be caused by doing it in TDM via Firewire.

Getting to trash from firewire boot mode

Is there a way to get to a users trash bin from firewire target mode? The iBook will not boot and I think there are files on the trash that need to be restored to get the computer to boot.

It is unlikely if you trash specific files, that restoring them will allow a machine to boot. What you may want to do is if any of those files in the trash have critical user data is to restore them to your Users -> yourname folder. The trash resides in an invisible folder under Users -> yourname called .Trashes The freeware Tinkertool allows you to view that folder if you can't see it normally.
Once you've restored your critical files from the trash, backed up the entire user folder at least twice, and any applications if possible, then make sure you have sufficient space, you may be able to archive and install Tiger over again, as long as you apply the correct combo update to follow it. See my FAQ* for tips on that:
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

How to mount RAID disk with target mode

Hi,
On my Mac Pro I have 2x2TB HHD which I use as RAID 1.
For maintenance I need now to access the HHD content from my macbook via FIreWIre target mode. On the macbook however I see the two HHD unmounted as two independent units, not as RAID 1.
How can I safely mount my RAID 1 disk?

I don't think you'll need another computer or eight hours of downtime. You didn't mention the size of your internal drive but I'd assume the 300gb external will hold it all. I'll also assume the external is a firewire drive, if it's not none of this will work.
This is what I would do:
1. Download Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to clone your remaining raid slice to the external 300gb drive, and make sure to check the "make bootable" box.
2. In System Preferences set your startup disk to the external.
3. Restart from the external.
4. Run disk Utility to reformat your internal drive. At this point you're going to need to decide wether or not to set it up as a raid again. I don't think I would.
5. Use Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to clone the external back onto your internal drive.
6. System Prefs again to reset the startup drive to your internal.
7. Restart and you should be good to go, and you've got your first backup done on your external.
8. Devise and impliment a backup strategy. Do you need daily/weekly/monthly backups? You'll have to decide how much you can afford to lose if your main drive goes belly up. There are several programs that are easy to set up a backup schedule on, the above mentioned CCC and SuperDuper and a little app called Deja Vu which runs as a system preference pane, is very easy to set up and if I remember is free.
Now, I say all of this not knowing what you do with your external drive to begin with. I am guessing that the raid was set up as a mirror to be a backup if the drive had problems....which is exactly where you are. Personally I would just format it as one drive and backup to the external. If the internal does actually fail you'll still have all your stuff and can run from the external until you replace the internal.
Make sense? I know I rambled a bit but it's really easy.
Dual 2.0, 4 GB, 2x160 GB , SuperDrive, 9800 SE, 20 Aluminum - 15 1.5 PB, Mac OS X (10.4.5)

PMG4 won't boot from DVD or FW Target Mode

I have a 350mhz PMG4 (AGP) that has a DVD/CDRW drive that works fine under 10.4, but won't boot (have tried from prefs panel and by holding C).
Also, it comes up with open firmware and gives an error when I try to start firewire target mode from the prefs panel, and does nothing if I hold up T on start.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi, Brian -
This sequence may do a full reset of Open Firmware -
- Start the computer and immediately hold down Command-Option-O-F
- When the computer starts it should open into a prompt screen (Open Firmware).
- Press Return, you will see OK.
- Type reset-nvram include the dash, here and below.
- Press Return
- Type set-defaults
- Press Return
- Type reset-all
- Press Return
The system should restart. If not, try typing exit or shutdown, or you can manually restart the system.
Note - some machines may return "unknown word" in response to the reset-nvram instruction; if that happens, try init-nvram instead.

Firewire/target disk mode

ok so long story... bear with me...
i have 2 macs and 1 sorta died so i connected the 2 and transferred all the documents i wanted to keep onto the good one via firewire and it all worked perfectly with the target disk mode and the hard drive came up on the desktop and i could get into all my documents and save them. Then, once i erased and re-installed the system on the old one and i connected the 2 computers again and did target disk mode on the good one, the one i saved refused to recognize the other computer... i think it was some sort of incompatibility issue? i don't know but it's really frustrating and i tried it 3 times already and restarted both computers mulitple times so i just hope someone can help me please
--Louise

Hi, and a Warm Welcome to Apple Discussions and the Power Mac G5 Forum!
Well - If you haven't already, you could try FireWire TDM the other way round with the other Mac as the target. The TDM instructions and a list of suitable FireWire target Macs are here
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
and some basic FW TDM checks here
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75414
Please post again if none of it helps - perhaps giving more details of each Mac and OS X version, etc. Good Luck.

Firewire Target DIsk Mode Mac partition not Boot Camp partition

Hi I'm having issues starting up my Mac and would like to Firewire mount the drive then image it. However, when I do so the Boot Camp partition mounts instead of the Mac partition. I've tried using Disk Utility on the host machine to mount the Mac partition (it does show up in Disk Utility) without success, Is there anything I can do.
(Yes I have yesterday's Time Machine backup, but would still prefer to do a full image before wiping and installing the OS).

Are you talking about starting up one computer in Target Disk Mode and then seeing it with a second computer (and if so, which model computer and which OS)?
[How to use FireWire target disk mode|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661] includes description of hardware and software requirements.
[What to do if your Mac doesn't enter FireWire Target Disk Mode|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75414], also read about [Open Firmware Password Protection|http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/openfirmwarepassword.html] which can disable Target Disk Mode.
[Technical Note TN 1189|http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1189.html#TargetMode] - driver details for TDM

Security issue: Firewire Target Mode

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