[Newsletter] MacWorld, Information Source Credibility, Tiger Client networksetup and AirPort Bug

[Paul Suh]

Folks,

MacWorld 2008
-------------------------

Just a little plug, I'm going to be speaking at a session on  
Application Sandboxing on Friday, January 18 at 10:45 AM. I'll be  
covering why you would want to do this, how it's done, and how you  
can take advantage of sandboxes. A kind gentleman has actually put  
the entire MacWorld schedule up in iCal form at:

	<http://www.pixelography.com/>

Also, the IDG folks have put up a social networking page on Ning:

	<http://macworldexpo.ning.com/>

If you're coming, I'll see you there!


Information Source Credibility
---------------------------------------------

While we're on the subject of security, it seems like a good time to  
step back and take a look at how you might evaluate the credibility  
of an information source. I read an Op-Ed by Joshua Bolton (the  
former U.S. ambassador to the U.N) this morning that was attempting  
to minimize the impact of the National Intelligence Estimate that  
stated that Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons program two years  
ago. I have to say that I can't believe a word that he says, based on  
his previously expressed views and statements.

This got me to thinking: what are some useful criteria for evaluating  
new security information, such as warnings about new attacks on your  
computer systems. When you run into any information about an issue  
(any issue really, but especially security), it's useful to ask:

1) What are the incentives of the source?

2) What is the source's track record? What biases has the source  
shown in the past?

3) What elements of the story can you corroborate? What elements of  
the story has the source omitted? If you assume the opposite of these  
elements from what the source states or presumes, how would that  
change your conclusions?

4) What do you know about the technical feasibility of the story?

5) What are the opinions of other knowledgeable people?

Looked from this angle, a lot of the security warnings about Mac  
viruses and worms from the past couple of years are of dubious value.  
That said, some of the more recent holes, especially the current  
QuickTime RTSP header vulnerability, really are worth serious concern.


Tiger Client networksetup and AirPort Bug
---------------------------------------------------

Buried deep in the System folder is the networksetup command line  
tool, part of the Apple Remote Desktop client package. It's at:

	/System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/ 
Support/networksetup

This allows you to change any of the network settings from the  
command line -- like from a shell script. Run it with the flag --help  
to see all of the dozens of options.

On Tiger client systems only, there is bug in this tool. (It does not  
apply to Tiger server, which has its own separate networksetup tool  
in /usr/sbin, and it's fixed in Leopard.) No matter what command you  
give it relative to the AirPort settings, it always comes back with  
the error message:

	AirPort Power: Off

However, there's a separate, equally undocumented binary at:

	/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Resources/ 
airport

This will let you manipulate the AirPort settings from the command  
line, and has even more options than the networksetup command. If you  
use the --password option with the --associate=<network name>  
command, it will put the network password into the System keychain.


--Paul


Paul Suh                                                          
http://www.ps-enable.com/
paul.suh at ps-enable.com                           (240) 672-4212



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