Kibbles & Bytes Blog

As useful and easy as it is to use a mouse to interact with your computer, most of the time it’s much quicker to simply use key commands with the keyboard to access commonly-used functions. Combinations of the Shift, CTRL, Option (Alt), and ⌘ (Command) modifiers multiply your keyboard real-estate dramatically.

But what do these keys mean, and what does the odd little cloverleaf ⌘ have to do with anything? Shift is obviously a carryover from the typewriter days; physically shifting the mechanism that imprints letters to paper so that capitalized characters are used.

The CTRL key’s origins lie with early teletype machines as a keyboard modifier. The key allowed commands such as ejecting a printed page, clearing the screen or ringing the bell on the terminal.

The Option or “Alt” key is a modifier carried over from keyboards made for early Lisp and MIT computers where it was labeled the “Meta” or ◆ key and allows alternate characters or input. Similar to the function of the shift key.

The command key on an Apple keyboard used to be represented with the typical Apple logo dating to the days of the Apple Lisa keyboard that allowed the user access to all of the available application commands by key combinations. However, during a development meeting for a new piece of software with significantly more commands than other programs, Steve Jobs remarked on how many little Apple icons were on each menu label and exclaimed that the developers were “Taking the Apple logo in vain”, and so the search went out for an alternative.

Susan Kare, Apple’s bitmap artist sought out an appropriate symbol that would fill the void and settled upon a symbol used in Sweden on tourist signs to represent a point of interest. It’s symmetry and simplicity were exactly what was called for. While the symbol, called a Bowen Knot, Gorgon Loop, or St. John’s Arms, depending on where you go, is common in European history; it’s likely the Swedish “point of interest” icon generally refers to the shape of Borgholm Castle, a popular 13-Century ruin and common point of interest in Sweden, iconized and simplified for tourists.

So the next time you’re zipping through your work, take a second to reflect at the history behind the funky cloverleaf next to your space bar and be happy you’re not taking the Apple logo in vain.

On Wednesday I was having a slow day, and, after hearing about other systems being hit with a web-based attack the previous day, I decided to see how easy it would be for someone to reach my server on the Wifi network.

Now I feel like I don’t have to explain the devastation that could be caused by a disgruntled person who has enough Google skill to script kiddie their way and wreak havoc with traffic noise or compromise your network or server.

This is where the grey IT arts known as pentesting, (or penetration testing) comes in handy and it is on the same line as Offensive Security. Now most businesses use wired for their workstations, but with tablets and laptops becoming more powerful, there is a big shift to wireless offices and classrooms. To gain access with a wired connection you have to be on the property, not ideal if you get caught and have trespassing added onto the plethora of federal charges brought up on you; it just doesn’t seem worth the risk. But Wifi is just radio signal of a different nature, but still it is data sent in the air that can be pulled out and decoded and read.

The first line of defense is our own wireless security is that our SSID is not broadcasted for the service network, but even that is not enough. Anyone who knows how to use a network sniffer could easily see a hidden wireless network whether or not SSID is hidden or not. The next line of defense is a strong Wifi password to gain a network address.This is the portion of our defense that I was control testing.

The Setup:
Mine:
Apple Airport Extreme coming right from the DSL hooked up to an airport express in bridge mode. The reason for this setup is that it cuts down on service interruptions coming from the surrounding companies’ “Hot Spot”.

The Bad Guy:
An Acer Aspire from 2011 running Kali Linux, with Aircrack-ng running. A simple setup anyone can download from the almighty inter webs. No customization done to the Kali linux system.

Ok, so now on to the test. Our target system was picked up on a scan while the Bad Guy was sitting out in our parking lot trying to get free internet, curious on why the network was hidden. They start their attack box, and start scanning traffic going to and from the BSSID 00:24:36:A5:D7:7F (my router). What he would need is a WPA Handshake, which is when an authentication has happened between BSSID (router) and the station the computer trying to connect to. This computer is always encrypted. But that is like house locks; they only keep out the honest people. Encryption can be cracked. As you can see, with all the devices on the service network, getting a WPA handshake was easy. That is where the novice setting ended in this game.

My system survived without a breach, now that’s not to say you couldn’t brute force your way in, but that would cause alarms to go off.

So thanks to long complex passwords, my server is safe. This is a good lesson.

Hey there, Tech Tails readers!

This week marks one year since I took the position of service & repair technician here in Waitsfield, VT. I began my journey as a Small Dogger in our Rutland location as a part-time retail associate just before the decision to close the store was made. I then accepted a full-time position as a Junior Macintosh Repair Technician in our South Burlington store, and after learning the tools of the trade, (quite literally) I migrated over to our Waitsfield store and corporate office nestled in the beautiful Mad River Valley. While I’ve explored much of the Small Dog ecosystem, I have yet to make a visit to our Key West store, (Don, just say the word!).

I remember unwrapping my first Macbook (all-white, a true classic) on my 16th birthday; a gift from my mother, and when I asked where she got it she replied “the Small Dogs” in South Burlington. I’d grown up around Macintosh computers, as my mother was, who remains to this day a top-tier graphic designer. I’d never had my own personal Mac computer until that moment. And with it my mother could breathe a sigh of relief knowing I would no longer be taking the screwdriver to her MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo to “take a peek inside.” The hours I spent messing around with Garageband, taking those classic Photobooth photos with friends and family, spending hours fine tuning and itemizing my iTunes library- it may sound silly, but those early days I spent learning the lay-of-the-land of the Apple computer architecture with my trusty white Macbook are truly fond memories. Ha, and perhaps in a moment of prophecy, I remember my mother sternly telling me upon opening the clamshell for the first time, “Don’t mess around with the hardware in that thing or you’re grounded.”

I didn’t listen.

Now here I am a whopping 10 years later, working as an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician at the place that indirectly helped shape my interest and curiosity in the world of the Apple computers. It seems everything comes full circle eventually!

We have some great articles for you this week and if there’s something you’d like to see in a future edition of Tech Tails, don’t hesitate to reach out to one of us with a suggestion!

Enjoy, readers!
Connor “I can’t hang out guys, I’m grounded” McGinnis
connormcginnis@smalldog.com