#Disable On For One Site Mac OS X 10#

The casual manner in which he asked me led me to assume this was not the first time he had pushed this question, and that it was a common practice at this store (Barton Creek Mall in south Austin, for those who care).Remove Security: The options vary depending on the type of password security attached to the document. He asked me to disable my MacвЂ™s password before I turned it in for a multi-day off-site repair. A website youll see a prompt from Keychain Access to save the password to your keychain.Back in 2018, I encountered what IвЂ™d consider the cardinal sin of opsec by an Apple store employee. You can set the start time and the end time.Keychain Access is the built-in password manager for macOS.

A Mac going offsite gets handled by several intermediaries, not just the technicians.The user will have to enter a correct admin-level username and password. Click OK once more to confirm the action.Apple customers already place a great deal of trust in repair technicians who have the userвЂ™s password, but disabling it for logging in means everyone who handles or has physical access to the device could trivially steal data from it or install malware on it. If the document has a permissions password, type it in the Enter Password box, then click OK.

рџІ After I refused to disable the password, they then asked me what my admin password was (which they inputed into customer service software). (The company claims that, without exclusively using its repair services your security as a customer would be compromised.)Their lax approach to opsec in the rank and file, which I personally witnessed, was simply disturbing to me.Tl dr: While dropping off my Mac for repair, I was asked by an Apple store employee to turn off (yes, as in disable) my MacвЂ™s admin password. (Discussion here.) The report and my personal experience also highlight a disingenuous aspect of its fight against the consumerвЂ™s right to repair devices. A recent report (where Apple paid millions to settle a womanвЂ™s claims that, after sending her iPhone to Apple for repair, technicians uploaded her nude photos to her Facebook account) highlights the risks associated with sending your device to Apple for repair.

Disable On For One Site Mac OS X 10

Then he proceeded to ask some questions: Had I backed up my computer? and, most notably for this story, he asked:FileVault is a disk encryption program in Mac OS X 10.3 and later. Apple visit #1:After a quick inspection my Genius rep said my MacBook Pro was covered under the program. If it happened to me, then itвЂ™s likely happening to many other Apple customers.Millions of people walk through Apple Stores, and I think Geniuses asking people to turn off their Mac admin password is a completely unnecessary degradation of customersвЂ™ security.About two weeks ago, I found outВ about an Apple screen recall program that covered my (otherwise out-of-warranty) MacBook Pro.I was ecstatic! IвЂ™d previously looked into paying out of pocket for a screen replacement, and the total would have been $$$ and out of my price range, but this would be free! I made a Genius Bar appointment immediately and headed straight to the closest Apple Store. They literally asked me to disable my admin password altogether (I guess because the staff just see that as more convenient(?)).

I prioritized making it straight over there.After checking my photo ID and looking at my computerвЂ™s lock screen, the first thing the Genius asks me is:Could you disable the computerвЂ™s administrator password?Genius: Could you turn off the password on the device?Genius: Well, if they need to access your computer and the password is enabled, theyвЂ™ll re-image your hard drive and reinstall the OS. The rep said that the delivery people hadnвЂ™t made their pickup yet, but they would probably be by very soon. вЂ¦ Great! Apple visit #2Off from work and with a few other errands to make that evening, I called the Apple Store and asked when the repair pickup from the store would be made (where the devices are taken off to the repair center), so my device could be checked in before the next outgoing batch. The turn-around time would be a few days. I told him IвЂ™d need to wait until the following week to turn over the Mac because it was needed for work.He said I could drop it off any day before Tuesday, and then it would be shipped to a repair facility in Houston. It was reassuring to me that he even asked this question.

ThatвЂ™s very scary.However, if you give a Genius the password, only a handful of people who have access to AppleвЂ™s backend can have their way with your machine, and there will (presumably) be a log of them accessing your password. And when they mess with the device, there would be no trail of them having done so. Including the delivery people, anyone in the room with the device at the Apple Store, unrelated or miscellaneous workers at the repair center, etc. I stalled as some questions raced through my head:вЂ“ Why had the Genius from my last visit asked if I used FileVault, if I was now being asked to remove my password?вЂ“ WasnвЂ™t Apple all about privacy? This didnвЂ™t seem in line with that.вЂ“ Was this even necessary for a screen replacement? Could this not be handled by some BIOS interface that didnвЂ™t need an admin password?.вЂ“ Why had the Genius on my last visit not notified me about this вЂњneeding to unlock the computerвЂќ thing? My preparations for the visit would have been entirely different, instead he asked about disk encryptionвЂ¦The Genius seemed as rushed as I was (still trying to get my computer in the storeвЂ™s outbox before the delivery people showed up).Genius: WhatвЂ™s your administrator password?Why had he not started with this question?Many normal customers would have, by this point in the story, already disabled their MacвЂ™s administrator password.Giving Apple your password (while still a reason for concern), where itвЂ™s stored in their customer-management platform, is a MUCH BETTER OPTION THAN REMOVING ITвЂЉвЂ”вЂЉand should completely NEGATE the вЂњneedвЂќ to disable the computerвЂ™s password under all circumstances.See, if you remove your MacвЂ™s password, anyone that handles your machine can do whatever they want with it. Bad things have happened to unattended devices in the repair industry, computer access should be as limited as possible.Flustered, and not excited about the prospects of having to restore my computerвЂ™s state from a single spinning external drive, I slowly made my way to System Preferences > Users (like so).

That implies the devices were not in AppleвЂ™s custody the entire time, another reason disabling password is a ridiculous ask. Further reflections:When I called before my 2nd visit to the Apple Store, the rep volunteered (unsolicited) the name of the firm that was to take the devices from the store to the repair center. Whatever, it didnвЂ™t really matter anyway, if an Apple repair tech wanted to be nefarious with my password, it was hopeless anyway as the Keychain Access would have been his/herвЂ™s too.I guess the main takeaways from the experience are the following:Geniuses and Apple Support Advisors should should stop telling people to altogether disable administrator passwords, and should know if the admin password is truly necessary for a given repair.

Disable Password On Mac For One Site