MacBook hack attack the talk of Black Hat

Stan Beer
Thursday, 03 August 2006 14:11

Business IT - Security

A demonstration of a hack into an Apple MacBook computer on a wireless network has caused a stir at the Black Hat security event currently running in Las Vegas.

Two security specialists, David Maynor and Jon Ellch, demonstrated how to gain control of the MacBook by exploiting a flaw in the code of a wireless device driver.

The demonstration was videotaped because of security concerns about hackers copying the techniques on display by the two experts. Although the hack demo used an MacBook for the demonstration, the researchers stressed that vulnerability was not a Mac problem but a weakness with wireless device drivers in general. They said that they had been able get control of wireless Linux and Windows laptops as well.

According to the Maynor and Ellch, a MacBook was used for the demo because demonstrating a hack on Mac OSX, which boasts a higher level of security than Windows, would create a greater impact than another type of computer.

If that was indeed the intention, then it worked. The two professional hacking researchers were reportedly mobbed by members of their audience after the presentation and are now the talk of the show.

Meanwhile, the growing number of users of wireless networks at home and in the office can only look on with a sense of disquiet and trepidation, knowing that the chances are that a good hacker can get control of their computers if their device driver is faulty.