In Episode 9, The MacDudes talk about hardening your Mac using native security applications and processes.

Following in the security theme, the Plist of the Week (PLoW) covers com.apple.loginwindow.plist and com.apple.loginitems.plist.

We have a great interview with Joe Duke of AccessData. Joe will discuss the use of FTK in analyzing Macintosh and the new FTK Mac Forensics course.

The following are some of the websites we talk about concerning Mac Security & anti-virus

Mac Shadows
Secure Mac
Mac Hacking
Security Social
Intego Blog

The show note to follow, honest!

Be Safe,
The MacDudes

In Episode 8, we cover preparing a Mac for use as an analysis system. We also go over a lot of tools that are useful in analysis of a Mac. We have an interview with Ben Charnota of BlackBag Technologies about their new software write block (beware: Ryan's mic will be found lacking).

Google is providing free internet access in a number of airports this holiday season. Here is a link to an article about it: http://tiny.cc//Free_Google312

Plist of the Week: com.apple.recentitems.plist

No Website of the Week this episode, the show was getting a little too long so I pulled it out. We will include it in the next show.

Show notes to follow!

Be safe,
The MacDudes

This episode, the MacDudes have an interview with Lee Whitfield of the Forensic 4cast Podcast, talk about features in Snow Leopard that are of interest to examiners, and the Plist of the Week.

Also discussed;

Problems with Time Capsule
Linkedin Groups
Bodega application
Twitter's Computer Forensic Information
Snow Leopard's Problems with Guest Accounts
MobileSyncBrowser


Look for show notes soon.

In this Episode, Ryan interviews Al Lewis of SubRosaSoft, Chris talks with Social Media & Communications expert, Christ M. Miller about her website, Cops2Point0.com.

The MacDudes also discuss:

HFS+ read support in BootCamp 3.0
Mac OS's native screenshot capabilities
Plist of the Week: com.apple.sidebarlists.plist

We're still struggling with some sound quality issues,  hopefully we will have this worked out with the next round of interviews.

Show notes will be posted shortly.

In this episode, the MacDudes talk about iPhone backup files and tools to parse them, imaging iPods, how to extract a dictionary file from swap files over 2GB in size and the Plist of the Week.

This episode covers why we point everyone to the user's Home folder first. Ryan talks about Diskarbitration for Leopard and Tiger. Chris showcases the Plists of the Week, Safari bookmarks, history, downloads, TopSites & Last Session.

Websites of the Week:  MacTracker & EveryMac

Podcasts to listen to: CyberSpeak & Forensic 4Cast

Show notes are available for download. They are more detailed than the synopsis below:

Click here to Download

Show notes synopsis:

Home Folder:
-Most of the evidence is located in the Userʼs Home Folder
-Majority of the Preference PLists with user-specific settings are in 
 User/Library/ Preferences

 -User Logs:
  -Indicative of the userʼs activity
  -Not system activity, but user specific logs

-Preferences:
 -PLists files or proprietary format files for the User
 -Contains configurations and settings for the User
 -I.E. Online activity, buddy lists, email, logins, etc.

-Application Support:
 -Mozilla Cache, iPhone backup files from MobileSync folder  -Application PLists with information

LEOPARD:
-Disk Arbitration looks at devices and mounts the device and makes icon 
  to access this device available to the user
-On Boot, Disk Arbitration recognizes the internal hard drive. Recognizes
  file system. Mounts partitions on desktop.
 -In order to prevent writes, we must prevent the mount.

 -To turn off Disk Arbitration, enter Terminal and type:

sudo launchctl unload System/Library/LaunchDaemon/com.apple.diskarbitrationd.plist

-Now when you connect a disk, the disk will not mount

-To turn back on, enter Terminal and type:
sudo launchctl load System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.diskarbitrationd.plist

or Reboot system and diskarbitration will become active again

TIGER:
-Not controlled by LaunchCtl process
-Need to move the PList from one location to another

-Method:
1. Make copy of the diskarbitrationd.plist
2.Once the copy is made, use the remove command in Terminal to delete  
   the com.apple.diskarbitrationd.plist from the /etc/mach_init.d folder
3.Reboot system
4.Only OS Boot partition will mount.

To UNDO, Copy the diskarbitrationd.plist back to the /etc/mach_init.d  
   folder and reboot the system.

PList(s) of the Week(PLOW):

User/Library/Safari:

Bookmarks.plist:
 -User created/maintained bookmarks

Downloads.plist
 -Any downloads specific to Safari
 -Download history

History.plist:
 -History from Safari if not cleared

TopSites.plist
 -Came with Safari 4
 -When a New Tab is opened, it opens thumbnails of  most visited sites
 -Instead of typing URL,  just click on thumbnail and it opens the site.

LastSession.plist:
 -Indicates what was open on last Safari session
 -If multiple windows opened, it will indicate each as a different Item

Hey,

Episode 3 is uploaded and ready for your listening pleasure. We cover Safari Internet cache, the Trusted Utilities Disk and the Plist of the Week. We also have our Host at Large, Reggy, with part one of his series on the Terminal.

Show notes should be posted tomorrow.

Thanks for listening and keep those emails coming in!

Be Safe,
The MacDudes

Episode 2 is uploaded! The sound quality is a bit better but still working on that. In this episode we cover: Defeating the Open Firmware password, Mobile Forensics World's iPhone Forensics panel discussion, the Plist of the Week and a few Mac websites.

You can send any comments or questions to:
Click here to send The MacDudes an e-mail


Episode 1 Show Notes (Download at: Show Notes)


GOLDEN RULE: Use OPTION key to boot first and confirm no Firmware Password

OFP: Prevents any other startup option other than "option" or "startup disk".

If OFP is active and you attempt alternative boot sequence, the system will default to  the normal “Startup Disk” and possible writes will be made.
-Dont want to make writes....

1. Boot with option key to confirm Open Firmware Password exist
2. To get around:
    A. Pull hard drive and image via write block (24 screws or less)

    B. Reconfigure the RAM:
        1) Shut down
        2) Disconnect power (if laptop remove battery)
        3) Remove stick or add stick of RAM to reconfigure
        4) Close up, connect battery/power
        5) Command+Option+P+R key all at once "Vulcan Death Grip"
        6) Listen for 3 Chimes-Indicates reset
        7) Restart and use Option key to check

NOTE: Time will be reset. The clock will possibly be off.
             Logs may be important.

Mobile Forensics World iPhone Forensics Panel

iPhone Panel:
-Ryan Kubasiak: Macosxforensics.com
-Jonathan Zdziarski : iPhone Forensics author
-Sean Morrissey :Dept. of Defense
-Andrew Hoag : Moderator

-Took questions from audience after moderated question session.

Different ways to get data:
Hardware/Software Suites:

Wolf: Good for unlocked phone, and if you unlock can use.

Cellebrite

Different Methods:
Raw Disk info: Jonathan Zdziarski and Sean Morrissey
                          -Concerns as to what is being changed from data 
                            standpoint

Dont forget about the iPhone backups on the Mac: a wealth of information

PList(s) of the Week(PLOW):

Plist: Registry like files but corruption of one file doesnʼt corrupt the entire system.

Application plists:

Quicktime:
Global: Library--> Preferences--> com.apple.quicktime.plist
-Shows Registered User and Registered Key
-Can indicate the key for verififcation of legal software

iWork (Mac Office Suite):
Global-->Library-->Preferences->
iWork08: com.apple.iwork08.plist
iWork09: com.apple.iwork09.plist


Google Gears:
Global--Library-->Preferences-> com.google.gears.plist 
User-->Library-->Preferences-> com.google.gmailnotifier.plist

Websites to Check Out:
Mac Shadows:  www.macshadows.com

Macenstein:  www.macenstein.com

Well, we finally got Episode 1 uploaded! We had some minor problems with sound quality, hopefully we will get those cleared up for the next episode.

You can send any comments or questions to:
Click here to send The MacDudes an e-mail


Episode 1 Show Notes (Download at: Show Notes)

Single User Mode:

GOLDEN RULE: Use OPTION key to boot first and confirm no Firmware Password

-If Firmware Password in use, power off.
(Firmware Password Options will be covered in a later podcast)

-Single User Mode can be used to find Date/Time of the system without making
changes

-After OPTION key boot and confirmation of no firmware password

-REBOOT holding OPTION + ʻSʼ Key to boot into Single User Mode

-Will be similar to a Verbose boot

-After boot stops, type “Date” at cursor and date and time will be displayed.

-To find the make & model of the installed hard drive, look for the line that starts with "Got Boot Device"

-Can also run System Profiler to access information about the system

Training:

Forward Discovery:
-Non-Tool Specific Mac Forensics Survival Course
-Teaches how to do Mac Forensics using Mac
-Basic and Advanced Courses being offered Internationally

BlackBag Technologies:
-Offers both training for non-tool and Blackbag Tool Training
-Suite of Proprietary tools for using a Mac to do Mac Forensics
-Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Courses

SubRosaSoft:
-Also offers tool specific training
-MacForensicsLab:Proprietary software

Purdue University: (Law Enforcement Only):
-3 day class
-Traveling Class and at the University
-Beginning and Advanced Course

Apple:
-Several certifications:
-Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP)
-Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC)
-Apple Certified System Administrator (ACSA)
-Range of Apple Software Pro Certifications as well


Plist of the Week(PLOW):

This weekʼs PLOW is: com.apple.ipod.plist

1.It is located in both Global and User: Library --> Preferences

2.Contains information about all IPod/IPhone devices connected to system.

3.Includes (not comprehensive):
  a.UUID: Unique ID for the Device
  b.Connected: Last Connected Date/Time
  c. Device Class: IPod/IPhone
  d.Firmware Version
  e.Serial Number
  f. IMEI (IPhone)
  g.Use Count

Welcome to Inside the Core, the Macintosh & Apple Device Forensics podcast.

Today is a short introduction into what Inside the Core is all about. We will cover Mac specific resources and the Plist of the Week.

Resources

The Mac OS X Forensics website
www.macosxforensics.com

The Mac OS Forensics Yahoo Group
tech.groups.yahoo/group/macos_forensics

Tips & Tricks at the MacForensicLabs website
www.macforensicslab.com

Plist of the Week

com.apple.preferences.account.plist

This plist is located in the Local Library (/Library/Preferences) and holds information pertaining to deleted user accounts. These user accounts can be totally deleted from the system or archived by the administrator.

To see if the user accounts were archived, look in the Users folder for the Deleted Users subfolder (/Users/Deleted Users/). User accounts that have been archived will be in a disk image (DMG) format or if it was FileVaulted, a sparsebundle image.