jed@mb2c.UUCP (John Duncan) (07/29/86)
... Is it possible to make a Folder on HFS "invisible"? If so, how. This could be the start of at least some form of security for hard disk owners -- eg. before you power off your machine, you activate a DA that secures the system by making all of the highest level folders and documents invisible. When you reboot, the startup application would ask for your password which would be stored in an invisible file. No password, nothing to see. Even booting up with a normal floppy would not appear the desktop. Sure, I know it can be beat, but its a start and would keep novice snoopers away. Any other security ideas would be greatly appreciated. For example, do any of the SCSI hard drive manufacturers offer a keylock power-on switch? John Duncan (mb2c!jed) Michigan Bell (313) 424-1167
ephraim@wang.UUCP (pri=8 Ephraim Vishniac x76659 ms1459) (07/30/86)
> Is it possible to make a Folder on HFS "invisible"? If so, how. This could > be the start of at least some form of security for hard disk owners -- eg. > before you power off your machine, you activate a DA that secures the system > by making all of the highest level folders and documents invisible. When you > reboot, the startup application would ask for your password which would be > stored in an invisible file. No password, nothing to see. Even booting up > with a normal floppy would not appear the desktop. Sure, I know it can be > beat, but its a start and would keep novice snoopers away. Under MFS, you could make a folder "invisible" by putting it inside itself. (An easy hack with ResEdit, just patch the FOBJ.) This had no effect on programs using the files on the disk, because the "folders" were invisible to applications anyway. Might one patch the directory file for an HFS folder so that the folder is in itself? How would this "lost" object behave?
barad@brand.UUCP (Herb Barad) (07/30/86)
In article <1784@mb2c.UUCP> jed@mb2c.UUCP (John Duncan) writes: >... >Is it possible to make a Folder on HFS "invisible"? If so, how. This could >be the start of at least some form of security for hard disk owners -- eg. >before you power off your machine, you activate a DA that secures the system >by making all of the highest level folders and documents invisible. When you >reboot, the startup application would ask for your password which would be >stored in an invisible file. No password, nothing to see. Even booting up >with a normal floppy would not appear the desktop. Sure, I know it can be >beat, but its a start and would keep novice snoopers away. > >Any other security ideas would be greatly appreciated. For example, do any >of the SCSI hard drive manufacturers offer a keylock power-on switch? > >John Duncan (mb2c!jed) Michigan Bell (313) 424-1167 Yes, it is possible and it does help with security. You need ResEdit (maybe simular programs will work). Go into ResEdit and select the folder you want to operate on. Then select "Get Info (command-I)" and you will then be able to change some attributes. Set the Invisible flag. Now the folder (and all its contents) still exists and can even be used to some extent. What we did here is to put all our applications (MacDraw, MacPaint, etc.) into a folder that was then made invisible. I had created sample blank documents that were locked. These blank documents (one for each program) were needed to start up an application. Suppose someone wants to create a new MacWrite file, he can then open the sample document and MacWrite will start up (even though it is in an invisible folder!). This is not perfect security, but does keep people from throwing applications into the trash, etc. -- Herb Barad [USC - Signal and Image Processing Institute] USENET: ...!sdcrdcf!usc-oberon!brand!barad or ...!mcvax!seismo!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!usc-oberon!brand!barad ARPANET: barad%brand@USC-ECL.ARPA USMail: Univ. of Southern California Powell Hall 306, MC-0272 Los Angeles, CA 90089-0272 phone: (213) 743-0911
barad@brand.UUCP (Herb Barad) (08/02/86)
In article <848@wang.UUCP> ephraim@wang.UUCP (pri=8 Ephraim Vishniac x76659 ms1459) writes: >> Is it possible to make a Folder on HFS "invisible"? If so, how. This could >> be the start of at least some form of security for hard disk owners -- eg. >> before you power off your machine, you activate a DA that secures the system >> by making all of the highest level folders and documents invisible. When you >> reboot, the startup application would ask for your password which would be >> stored in an invisible file. No password, nothing to see. Even booting up >> with a normal floppy would not appear the desktop. Sure, I know it can be >> beat, but its a start and would keep novice snoopers away. > >Under MFS, you could make a folder "invisible" by putting it inside itself. >(An easy hack with ResEdit, just patch the FOBJ.) This had no effect on >programs using the files on the disk, because the "folders" were invisible >to applications anyway. > >Might one patch the directory file for an HFS folder so that the folder >is in itself? How would this "lost" object behave? You can make folders in HFS invisible using ResEdit. None of the program that I have used with this technique are bothered by it. Here at USC we have a "public" Mac for people to use and some people insist on throwing applications in the trash, rearranging folders, etc. So, we made all the critical folders invisible (even the System folder). Everything is fine, just leave a few blank (token) documents of some applications so you can start them up. I'm sure other semi-security ideas can come from this. -- Herb Barad [USC - Signal and Image Processing Institute] USENET: ...!sdcrdcf!usc-oberon!brand!barad or ...!mcvax!seismo!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!usc-oberon!brand!barad ARPANET: barad%brand@USC-ECL.ARPA USMail: Univ. of Southern California Powell Hall 306, MC-0272 Los Angeles, CA 90089-0272 phone: (213) 743-0911
baron@runx.OZ (Jason Haines) (08/11/86)
If you want to make an application un-launchable, you can set it's busy bit. jason