What Apple Macbook Battery Hacking is About?
Charlie is just someone who wants his Mac to be safe from hackers. He is not out there to make Apple feel embarrassed. He wants Apple to go one step further, and make its devices foolproof. “I don’t want to be their adversary. I want to have them fix stuff — and I want them to get better“, Charlie said.If you have a software problem or if someone hacks your device, you can reboot and have your system running like a horse again. But what to do when someone can affect the hardware with the use of a software? Charlie Miller has found a way to shut down the charging system in your Mac by playing around with the software.
How Apple Macbook Battery Hack Works?
There is a dedicated system for charging your laptop. There is a constant interaction between a computer and its battery module. The battery module is responsible for calculating how much more battery the computer needs, when to cut the power off. And for running that battery module, Apple has given software.
This software has passwords, so that a user does not rupture it in any way. Charlie Miller just goggled for those passwords and found them. He hacked his Mac, entered the passwords and changed the software according to what he wanted it to do. And now he can do many queer things.He can change the software in a way that the computer doesn’t know whether the battery is connected to it or not. And your Mac won’t get charged, and you will just keep checking the battery wire connectivity to your Mac. And will keep checking if the battery is plugged in properly to the electric socket.
Implications: If someone is heartless enough, he can force your Mac to blow. And it’s not in theory. If someone changes the battery software in such a way that the computer keeps getting charged, then it can blow up, leaving you with burns.
Solution:
The solution is that Apple should change the default passwords which are keyed in when the Mac is manufactured. Charlie presented his hacking technique at the Black Hat security conference. And he thinks that changing the passwords will stop this kind of Mac hacking. So, if next time you are going out to buy a Mac, then do open your wallet with a pinch of concern.
Charlie is just someone who wants his Mac to be safe from hackers. He is not out there to make Apple feel embarrassed. He wants Apple to go one step further, and make its devices foolproof. “I don’t want to be their adversary. I want to have them fix stuff — and I want them to get better“, Charlie said.If you have a software problem or if someone hacks your device, you can reboot and have your system running like a horse again. But what to do when someone can affect the hardware with the use of a software? Charlie Miller has found a way to shut down the charging system in your Mac by playing around with the software.
How Apple Macbook Battery Hack Works?
There is a dedicated system for charging your laptop. There is a constant interaction between a computer and its battery module. The battery module is responsible for calculating how much more battery the computer needs, when to cut the power off. And for running that battery module, Apple has given software.
This software has passwords, so that a user does not rupture it in any way. Charlie Miller just goggled for those passwords and found them. He hacked his Mac, entered the passwords and changed the software according to what he wanted it to do. And now he can do many queer things.He can change the software in a way that the computer doesn’t know whether the battery is connected to it or not. And your Mac won’t get charged, and you will just keep checking the battery wire connectivity to your Mac. And will keep checking if the battery is plugged in properly to the electric socket.
Implications: If someone is heartless enough, he can force your Mac to blow. And it’s not in theory. If someone changes the battery software in such a way that the computer keeps getting charged, then it can blow up, leaving you with burns.
Solution:
The solution is that Apple should change the default passwords which are keyed in when the Mac is manufactured. Charlie presented his hacking technique at the Black Hat security conference. And he thinks that changing the passwords will stop this kind of Mac hacking. So, if next time you are going out to buy a Mac, then do open your wallet with a pinch of concern.
