this seems pretty ridiculous

[Jerome Scuggs]

so today i went to login on my mac notebook and my password didn't work. immediately i suspected pavement had changed my password but he denied it and he definitely wouldn't have known it anyways. so i get on to another computer and google that shit, and i found this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1543?viewlocale=en_US

a webpage, on apple's goddamn website, on how to change your password. or, more importantly - how to hack into any mac with the current 10.5 OS, if you have physical access to it. the process involves rebooting and pressing command+S to get to basically what is a unix terminal. type about 4 lines of commands, and then "passwd [username]", and you can set a new password for any account on the machine, without having to know any passwords. there was no "type old password", just setting a new one.

the webpage refers to this being used "after an upgrade", but i haven't upgraded my shit in awhile. just to be sure i tried it on another macbook and a desktop, all with success.

i mean maybe i'm out of the h4xx0r loop, and i've never had to try to hack into an account on windows... but this seems kinda ridiculous and unsecure. wtf? is this something that is normal across OS's as a last-resort backdoor?

[D1st0rt]

if you have physical access you can get into pretty much any computer you want

[Ilya]

i forgot my windows login password and it took me a good 4 hours of downloading lots of bullshit programs to crack it

it was "gonefishing12"

[sixtoo]

so today i went to login on my mac notebook and my password didn't work. immediately i suspected pavement had changed my password but he denied it and he definitely wouldn't have known it anyways. so i get on to another computer and google that shit, and i found this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1543?viewlocale=en_US

a webpage, on apple's goddamn website, on how to change your password. or, more importantly - how to hack into any mac with the current 10.5 OS, if you have physical access to it. the process involves rebooting and pressing command+S to get to basically what is a unix terminal. type about 4 lines of commands, and then "passwd [username]", and you can set a new password for any account on the machine, without having to know any passwords. there was no "type old password", just setting a new one.

the webpage refers to this being used "after an upgrade", but i haven't upgraded my shit in awhile. just to be sure i tried it on another macbook and a desktop, all with success.

i mean maybe i'm out of the h4xx0r loop, and i've never had to try to hack into an account on windows... but this seems kinda ridiculous and unsecure. wtf? is this something that is normal across OS's as a last-resort backdoor?

it can also be done from an install disk of the same make and model, or one without being of the same make and model but just the same os version.

also theres another key command you can do in terminal that will allow you to change the password without the install disk

yes its not very secure, but who do you know that will leave they're 1200+ macbook lying around for someone to do this to

[sixtoo]

ohh and by the way, buy yourself an applecare protection plan! cuz it sure beats the out of warranty repairs if you ever run into a situation where your monitor, hard drive, logic board goes down, shit costs less then a repair does and covers your comp for 2 additional years, if you call up the # say you are in school and ask for an educational discount and it'll cost even less

[Jerome Scuggs]

yes its not very secure, but who do you know that will leave they're 1200+ macbook lying around for someone to do this to

i haven't seen a windows-based laptop in over a year, seriously, everyone has macbooks now. i'm trying to memorize these terminal commands see if i can do it in under 30 seconds.

[the_paul]

i haven't seen a windows-based laptop in over a year, seriously, everyone has macbooks now. i'm trying to memorize these terminal commands see if i can do it in under 30 seconds.

look no farther my friend, I am on one right now.

I'm also on a toilet right now.

[kthx]

Yeah I am running windows 98 on my Laptop, its great.

[sixtoo]

theres a terminal command to play a star wars movie heheh

telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

[Scurvy]

last year over winter break I had a buddy call me frantically at 5 in the morning. I said gtfo I'm going to bed and he showed up anyways and knocked furiously until I opened the door. He comes barging in drunk off his ass carrying a brand new 27 inch iMac with all the cords trailing behind him. We asked where the hell he got it from. He said "Planet Parenthood" and passed out in my doorway.

The next day we figured out that it wasn't actually planned parenthood, but an office building (next door) with a state of the art computer lab that happened to be unlocked at 4:30 in the am. Apparently he let himself in and found the lab, tried removing a computer unsuccessfully, moved to the next one, wrenched it free of all the outlets/ports, and ran out of the building with it, and about 2 miles to my house (which was nearest at the time), boozed off his ass. He even fell off the sidewalk into some bushes a few times, but always managed to keep the computer safe.

Anyways, after we were all sobered up, it took about 10 minutes to have a new admin account set up, and the hard drive completely wiped (after taking a while to go through all the previous files). Consequently, we had a $2000 Yule Log happily crackling away during our Christmas party last year.

[Xog]

Hah! Great story.