1. Remote Access Hack Mac Free
2. Mac Hack Remote Access
3. Remote Access Hack Mac Password
4. Remote Access Hack Mac Os
5. Remote Access Hack Mac Download

Interact with a remote machine from the command line via SSH, the Secure Shell.

Once you've acquired a taste of the Unix command line underlying Mac OS X, it's hard to stick only to the machine at hand. You want to log in to that old-but-upgraded PowerMac 7500 with G3 card in the closet to see how your web server's faring. Your friend invites you to drop in on his X Server across the country to check out his latest Perl hacks. The FTP server in your office doesn't appear to be allowing incoming FTP requests, despite being pingable (read: online and alive).

Forget remote screen-sharing applications; who needs a candy-coated graphical user interface to accomplish the remote administration tasks at hand? From the command line you can do most anything you can do locally ? except play that addictive new fully immersive GUI game you left in your office machine's CD drive.

71.1 Introducing SSH

SSH, the Secure Shell, is a command-line utility for interacting with a computer over the network as if it were local, attached directly to your keyboard. SSH differs from other remote access options (e.g., Telnet) in its focus on security; all communication is encrypted, end to end. This means that anyone tapped into your network (called a man-in-the-middle attack) won't see much more than gibberish floating by. And it does this in a fast, safe, and intuitive way, making for some interesting and powerful hacks.

71.2 Allowing Remote Login

Earlier this year, Apple patched an iOS vulnerability that potentially could have allowed hackers to remotely access a nearby iPhone and gain control of the entire device. Say you are sitting in the office and you need access to a coworker's computer. You could physically go to that computer, but that takes both time and energy. Thanks to Mac OS X's remote login feature, there is now a faster way to gain this access. Remote login allows you to transfer files back and forth as well as perform other tasks.

Mac OS X, being a Unix-based operating system, comes with SSH remote-login capability baked right in. Before you can log into your Mac remotely, however, you do need to turn on SSH. Open the System Preferences Sharing pane and select the Services panel. On the left is a list of services supported by OS X; along with Personal Web Sharing [Hack #88] and Printer Sharing is Remote Login. If it's off, start it up either by selecting it and clicking the Start button on the right or by clicking the associated checkbox. After a few moments of Remote Login starting up . . . , your Services panel should look something like Figure 6-14.

1. To log in to a remote machine, whether it be another Mac, Linux box, or anything else running SSH, open a Terminal Hack #48 window and type:% ssh -l username remotemachine. Substitute your login name on the remote machine for username and the name or IP address of the remote server for remotemachine.
2. Install the Chrome Remote Desktop extension in Chrome on your Mac, open it from the new tab page, and go through its setup process. You’ll then be able to click the Share button to receive a temporary access code.
3. The remote access option being left on all the time just leaves you and your company more vulnerable to a potential attack. Security researchers actually discovered a vulnerability in Apple computers for enterprise companies that allowed them to remotely hack a brand new Mac the first time it connected to Wi-Fi.

71.3 Getting from Here to There

To log in to a remote machine, whether it be another Mac, Linux box, or anything else running SSH, open a Terminal [Hack #48] window and type:

Substitute your login name on the remote machine for username and the name or IP address of the remote server for remote_machine. If, for example, I were logging into a machine called foo.example.com using the login raelity, my session would start out a little like this:

If your remote login name is the same as your local one, you can forego the -l username bit, typing only:

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That's all there is to it. You should now be on the command-line of a remote machine. Depending on the operating system running over there, it will look to some degree or another like your local Terminal command line.

71.4 Copying Files over SSH

It's just about as easy to copy files to and from an SSH-enabled machine as it is to copy them from one local directory to another on the command line, thanks to an SSH-based version of the cp [Hack #48] command, scp. It goes like this:

The first line copies a file from remote_machine, using the username login to your local current directory (.). The second line does the exact opposite. For example, to copy a file called notes.txt in the /tmp directory on the remote machine, foo.example.com, as user sam to your local Documents directory, like so:

scp works just about the same as cp, allowing you to copy multiple files (this works when copying files from here to there, not there to here), rename them during copy, and so on:

71.5 Port Forwarding

SSH isn't only for securing interactive remote sessions; you can piggyback just about any network traffic on it, adding a wrapper of ironclad security to anything you may be doing over the network. For an example of so-called port forwarding over SSH, see [Hack #70].

71.6 Remote Reboot

Your remote machine's stuck for some unfathomable reason, the screen frozen and mouse immobile (not that you can see it). Yet you still seem able to log in remotely. To remotely reboot that machine, SSH in and type:

Wait a short while and, assuming it comes up cleanly, all should be well.

71.7 Remote Screenshot

The combination of OS X's command-line screencapture utility [Hack #41] and SSH means being able to take a snapshot of a remote machine's desktop.

Simply log in remotely, type screencapturefilename.pdf, and scp the file back over to your local machine.

This is a nifty way, by the by, to capture the Mac OS X Login screen.

71.8 SSH Without Passwords

When you're working with more than a few machines, having to type sshmy.server.com (followed by a password) is not only tedious, but it breaks one's concentration. Suddenly having to shift from 'Where's the problem?' to getting there and back to 'What's all this, then?' has led more than one admin to premature senility. It promotes the digital equivalent of 'Why did I come into this room, anyway?'

At any rate, more effort spent logging into a machine means less effort getting your work done. Recent versions of SSH offer a secure alternative to entering a password endlessly: public key exchange.

To use public keys with an SSH server, you'll first need to generate a public/private key pair:

After you enter the preceding command, you should see this:

Just press Return to accept the default. ssh-keygen will then ask you for a pass-phrase; just press Return twice (but read the note on security later in this hack).

The results should look something like this:

This created two files, ~/.ssh/id_rsa and ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub. Now you need to get those keys over to the destination machine; future SSH sessions will notice that you've got matching keys on both sides and not bother you for a password. Let's use SSH itself to copy the keys. The first command creates a remote .ssh directory, while the second copies the keys there:

Of course, you should substitute the remote machine's name or IP address for server. It should ask for your password both times. Now, simply SSH in (e.g., ssh server) and you should be logged in automatically, without a password. And yes, your shiny new public key will work for scp, too.

If that didn't work for you, check your file permissions on both your local and remote ~/.ssh directories and the files within. Your private key (id_rsa) should be 0600 (and be present only on your local machine), and everything else should be 0655 or better.

?Rob Flickenger

You turn on your MacBook and feel that something is wrong: some files have disappeared, or new files were added. You wonder if someone has been watching your computer.

So, how to tell if someone is remotely accessing your MacBook? You need to check your logs, verify that no new users were created, make sure that remote login, screen sharing, and remote management are disabled, and no spyware is running on your computer.

What is remote access and how is it configured on MacBooks?

There are three ways to access macOS remotely: allow remote logins from another computer, enable Screen Sharing or allow access by using Remote Desktop.

Both ways are legitimate, but if you don’t remember doing any of them you need to know how to turn on and off those possibilities.

Remote login to macOS

Computers that run macOS as an operating system can log in to your Mac using Secure Shell (SSH).

Steps to enable remote login are the following:

1. Go to System Preferences. You can get there by clicking on the apple icon on the left of the top bar. After you clicked on the Apple icon you will see a drop-down menu where you should click on the System Preferences menu item.
2. Find the Sharing folder and double click. Click on the Remote Login checkbox on the left.
3. Now you have the option to allow access either for all users or only specific users.

Once Remote Login is enabled then users with access can use SSH to log in and browse your computer’s contents.

Access to Mac screen using Screen Sharing

If you need help from IT to make changes on your MacBook, or maybe you are collaborating on a project and want to share your screen, you can enable Screen Sharing. Steps to enable as follows:

1. Go to System Preferences.
2. Find the Sharing folder and double click. Click on the Screen Sharing checkbox on the left.
3. Allow access either for all users or only specific users.

Now on another Mac (from which you want to access your Mac), start the Screen Sharing app.

You can start it by clicking Command and Space buttons. In a popup form, type Sharing and hit Enter. Type your computer name. In my case, I had to type in “dev-pros-MacBook-Pro.local”.

A new window will pop up with the shared screen of another computer. Now you can control the screen.

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Remote Desktop with Remote Management

Finally, it is possible to login to a computer with macOS by enabling Remote Desktop.

Steps to enable as follows:

1. Go to System Preferences.
2. Find the Sharing folder and double click. Click on the Remote Management check box on the left.
3. Allow access either for all users or only specific users.
4. There will be different Sharing options where you can fine-tune the type of access to allow: observe, change settings, delete, copy, and even restart the computer.

Now you can access this Mac from Apple Remote Desktop – it’s an application you can buy from Apple Store and at the time of writing its cost was $79.99.

If your Mac is being monitored, it will show this image (two rectangles) in the top right-hand corner near your computer time:

When that symbol appears, you will be able to tell if you are being monitored. You can also disconnect the viewer by clicking on the Disconnect option:

You can also click on “Open Sharing Preferences…” which will open the Sharing folder in System Preferences.

Since the question you had was if someone remotely accessing your computer then the chances are that you don’t need any of the sharing capabilities mentioned above.

In this case, check all options on the Sharing folder under System Preferences to make sure that nobody is allowed to access it and turn off (uncheck) all options.

How To Tell If Your Mac Was Hacked

Finding out if screen sharing or remote management were enabled and if your screen was being observed is the first step in knowing whether your Mac was hacked or not.

There are other places to check, and I listed them below.

Pay Attention To Four Signs Of Hacked Macs

If you are reading this post, chances are you noticed something unusual is happening on your Mac.

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Sometimes you have a hunch, but you can’t explain it. However, most of those signs can be explained by reasons other than malware or hackers.

So, let’s review the major signs.

Mac suddenly became slow for no apparent reasons

Following are some of the reasons why Mac can be slow:

• There is a virus or other malware
• Not enough disk space on Mac
• New OS was installed
• Hardware failure

Mac is using more Internet than usual

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This one is harder to detect now than before.

We used to have limits on how much Internet bandwidth we could use. Today, when many people have unlimited cable data, you may not even know that something is happening.

However, if you are on a limited plan and see a significant increase in data consumption (more than 25% more), it’s time to investigate.

The reasons could be the following:

• Your Mac is being used as a bot by hackers
• There is a virus or other malware
• Your little one grew up and now watching YouTube all day on your computer
• Someone is stealing your Wi-Fi (read more below)

Similar to the previous sign, problems with the Internet could be a sign pointing to a virus or adware affecting the browser.

Or it could be a new browser update. Or maybe the system became unstable.

Programs crashing more often

Did you notice that apps getting stuck and eventually crashing?

Very often, it’s a sign of malware.

Additional reasons for frequent app crashes are the following:

• Lack of memory (RAM)
• Lack of disk space
• Temporary system instability
• Hardware failure
• Unusual pop-ups in the browser

This is something we all have seen. You download an app from the Internet, and it seems like it was legit software. But little did you know a good app was bundled with bloatware.

Usually, the result is that your default search engine gets changed from Google to Yahoo, the home page changes, and there are additional icons in the browser toolbar.

But there could be other issues such as adware.

Adware is trying to redirect you to other sites not related to what you are searching for.

Their goal is to direct traffic to certain sites. More traffic, more money they get. So, they litter your screen with pop-up, hoping that you can click and open the site you don’t want.

New files appear or old files disappear

Malware often creates new files with cryptic names. For instance, ransomware encrypts the files on your disk and renames them. However, there could be more innocent explanations.

For instance, if you can’t find a file, it does not necessarily mean that it was deleted by malware or someone who logged in on your computer remotely. Maybe, you just can’t remember that you deleted the file or the folder. In this case, first, check Trash on Mac.

If you still can’t find what you need, check my post about finding any files. I guarantee, if the file is still on your Mac after reading my post, you will be able to locate it.

Eliminate False Positives From Consideration

While you are maybe suspecting something bad happening on your computer, it very well may be a normal condition.

Things to try before starting panicking:

Reboot

Sometimes glitches in software can make the current state of your system unstable. A reboot is still a remedy for many problems. You can either restart or shutdown and start again. The effect will be the same.

NVRAM/PRAM reset

Macs have a little memory chip where they store some configuration information needed for many Mac peripherals to work. Surprisingly, this area gets corrupt pretty often.

Fortunately, there is a very simple fix – reset NVRAM/PRAM and SMC.

Apple has very good instructions on how to perform these tasks.

What they don’t tell is that you have to reset at 2-3 times in a row for a fix to work. I found out this in the school of hard knocks so that you don’t need to.

Clear some space on disk

Lack of space on your startup disk may cause all kinds of issues: app slowdown, app crashes, high CPU usage, and MacBook overheating. Sometimes this may lead you to suspect that your Mac was hacked.

So, first, check how much storage you have left. And if it is not enough, you can either spend money on getting software that helps to clean your disk or read my article on free cleaning tips:

New operating system

Apple releases a new version of macOS every year. While they do everything they can to produce quality software, bugs still happen.

For instance, after the recent iOS update on my iPhone, my podcast app starts freezing every time I pause. I still didn’t find why it is happening because I am too lazy busy.

In the case of the issue on hand, if you had a recent OS update, take time to investigate if the issues you are noticing are common for the release.

Check for hardware failure

Macs are very dependable, and they can serve for many years.

However, any hardware gradually fails. For example, a failing disk causes unexplained app crashes. Failed RAM will prevent the computer from starting.

There is a good article on the Apple website about running hardware diagnostics. Try and see what it will report.

Check Mac For Keyloggers (Legal And Malware)

For a long time, I thought that all keyloggers could do to record keyboard strokes.

Imagine my shock when I started working on my post about keyloggers.

Suppose you are still suspecting that spyware is running on your machine.

In that case, you can use a third-party application like Little Snitch, which monitors applications, preventing or permitting them to connect to attached networks through advanced rules.

Setting up the rules for Little Snitch, however, could be complicated.

One of the typical spyware applications is a keystroke logger or keylogger. Keyloggers used to be apps that record the letters you type on the keyboard, but they significantly changed in the last few years.

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Suffice to say that keyloggers can take screenshots every 30 seconds or even track your chat activity, including the messages sent to you.

I believe that keyloggers are a much greater security threat because they are easier to install and the powerful features they offer.

Check my article about keyloggers here:

Verify If New User Accounts Have Been Added

As we’ve seen already, remote login or sharing options require assigning access roles to the local users.

If your system was hacked, it is very likely that the hacker has added a new user to access it. To find out all users in macOS perform the following steps:

1. Start Terminal app by either going to Applications and then the Utilities folder or clicking Command and Space and typing Terminal in the pop-up window.
2. In the Terminal window type:

On my laptop, it listed macmyths, nobody, root, and daemon. Macmyths is my current user, and the rest are system accounts.

If you see the accounts that you do not recognize then they probably have been created by a hacker.

To find when the last time all user accounts been used, type the following command into the Terminal:

For each account, MacOS will list the times and dates of logins. If the login to any of the accounts happened at an abnormal time, it is possible that a hacker used a legitimate account to log in.

Check The Logs For Possible Access Issues

It may be useful to check the system logs for any possible access issues.

In order to find a system log, click on the Go option in the top menu or simultaneously click Shift, Command, and G. In the “Go to Folder” pop-up type: /var/log and hit Enter.

Now find the system.log file and scan for word sharing.

For instance, I found the following screen sharing log entries:

These were log entries when someone logged in to my system remotely:

Verify Home Wi-Fi Was Not Hacked

Your computer is not the only weak link you have to worry about.

Before the data flows into the system, it goes through the Wi-Fi router. And there are ways for bad guys to read all internet traffic, including emails and online transactions.

Check Which Programs Have Access To Camera And Mic

These are only two emails I received last month:

Email 1: “From a few days ago I’ve received an extortion email from y…[email protected] with threats to publish webcam video’s pictures from my wife and me in our intimate life. There are some things to verify if my computer’s webcam is under external control?”

Email 2: “I suspect my MAC has been compromised (I have a Macbook Pro) and all the software is up to date. I got an email from someone stating that they have recorded items via my MacBook camera. How can I check if this is possible?”

I guess that after reading these emails, you might have at least two questions:

1. Is it possible for someone to record my camera?
2. How can I know if someone recorded me?

First, it is entirely possible to record your camera remotely.

In fact, it’s very easy to do.

If a hacker has access to your Mac, all he needs is to launch a Quick Time Player (or Facetime) and start a new movie recording.

Obviously, there are other apps that can record the camera while being hidden.

If someone is recording you by using a MacBook camera, you will see a green light next to the camera.

In some cases, the green camera lights up even when there is no recording happening, only because a program got access to the device. But, it’s impossible to record without the green indicator off.

However, if you didn’t pay attention at the time of recording (were busy or not close to the computer), you will never be able to tell if you were recorded after the fact definitively.

In the older versions of the Mac operating system, you were able to use the lsof command with the Terminal, like so:

But lately, this command stopped providing anything useful.

So, instead of parsing Apple logs, get MicroSnitch to know whether your camera or microphone is engaged.

This is a very handy mini tool. When started, it appears in the menu bar on your Mac, and its icon changes if either video or audio, or both, become active.

Another cool feature is the Microsnitch log file. If you noticed any suspicious activity, you could check the log for past device activity.

If you want to use it, I suggest allowing it to run on startup. The app is very cheap – $3.99.

You can download it from their site or from Apple App Store.

Another thing to do is to go to System Preferences -> Security and Privacy.

Click on the Privacy tab and check programs under the Camera and Microphone sections. Remove the programs you don’t recognize (you can always add them back if needed).

And lastly, if you suspect that someone is controlling your laptop and if there is a chance that they are watching you thru the webcam, immediately apply a cover on the laptop’s webcam.

You can find my favorite webcam covers here.

Check Which Programs Run On Start

While you have System Preferences open, check one more thing.

Click on the Users and Groups icon, select the user, then click on the Login Items tab.

Remove items you don’t recognize.

Warning: Before removing the application, google it first. You don’t want to break the applications you need, right?

Install And Run Antimalware Program

I recently called Apple Support and complained about the slowness of my MacBook Pro.

I could’ve solved the problem myself, but I just wanted how much would it cost for Apple to perform diagnostics on a 5-year old MacBook.

Since I don’t have AppleCare for my Mac, I thought that they would charge me something.

Spoiler alert: they didn’t charge for anything.

So, when I called, the first thing the Apple advisor made me do is to install the Malwarebytes app.

While Malwarebytes is a solid recommendation for scanning, it is not the best. The same applies to the free version of Avast.

In fact, I stopped recommending it to any Mac user after the test I performed myself recently.

I tested a dozen of antimalware products, and only one detected 100% of 117 malware samples I intentionally downloaded on my MacBook.

So, if you need a recommendation on a good antivirus for Mac, check it here.

Set Up Traps Against Hackers

I found a cool and free tool that can be used to set traps if you think your computer was hacked. It’s called canary tokens.

When a potential hacker opens an email or a document with the token, it triggers an event in a remote location. And then you get an email notification.

What’s next?

Since I started this blog in 2019, I have been getting emails consistently from my readers. The interesting fact is that the majority of emails fall in two categories:

• How to protect my Mac from hackers?
• Which MacBook should I buy?

I have been answering individual emails, but since the number of emails was increasing steadily, I found myself not being able to help everyone. After all, I have a day job, and I have a family to take care of.

So, I decided to write a series of blogs about various security topics and put everything I know in one place, so everyone can find the answers to the questions they are asking.

I grouped all Mac security articles together, and the easiest way to follow them is by clicking the Next button at the bottom of each post.

It will take you some time (about 30 min), but in the end, you will know more about Mac security than most non-technical folks.

Or, you can use the following menu to jump directly to the topic of interest:

I also wrote a whole series of posts on antivirus solutions for Macs: