Date: 16 Mar 1994 13:01:38 -0700 (MST) From: Chris McDonald Subject: Product Test, PT-66, SafeLock (Macintosh) To: orvis@icdc.llnl.gov Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT [To]: cmcdonal@wsmr-emh34.army.mil Apparently-To: orvis@icdc.llnl.gov ******************************************************************************* PT-66 March 1994 ******************************************************************************* 1. Product Description: SafeLock is a commercial program to provide password protection for access to a Macintosh system. This product test addresses version 1.0.1 and version 1.0.2. 2. Product Acquisition: The product is available from Trend Micro Devices, Inc., 2421 West 205th Street, Suite D-100, Torrance, CA 90501. The telephone number is (310) 782-8190; the fax number is (310) 328-5892. The vendor offers site license arrangements and bundles SafeLock with another of its products called MacRx (reference PT-71). The cost of this bundled package was $49.00 plus shipping. Site licenses are available. 3. Product Tester: Chris Mc Donald, Computer Systems Analyst, Directorate of Information Management, White Sands Missile Range, NM 88002-5506, DSN 258-7548, DDN cmcdonal@wsmr-emh34.army.mil. 4. Product Test: a. I obtained a copy of SafeLock bundled with MacRx directly from Trend Micro Devices Incorporated in late March 1993. The documentation states that SafeLock "requires a Macintosh Plus or later computer running under System 6.07 or higher". Initial testing occurred in August 1993. For a variety of reasons it was impossible to prepare the results at that time. Additional testing occurred in January-February 1994 to refresh my memory and original notes. b. I installed the program on a MAC IIcx running System 7.0. Installation consists of inserting the SafeLock floppy disk, double-clicking on the SafeLock disk icon, clicking and dragging the SafeLock CDEV file onto the system folder, and then restarting the system. c. The default is for all protection to be turned off. Upon restart one must select Control Panel from the Apple Menu and then select the SafeLock icon. The initial default password on my copy was "trend" to open the SafeLock window and personalize the program by entering one's name and organization. d. When one has completed this action, the SafeLock Main Screen appears. It is at this point that one can enable protection on the volume(s) one wishes to protect. The screen presentation for enabling protection is extremely easy to follow. The documentation similarly provides concise instructions on invoking protection. There are warning notices to advise a user that volume protection will only be effective after the next system restart or shutdown. e. One then can choose to modify these options. (1) One may change the initial password. While it would seem logical that one would want to change the default, the documentation is noticeably silent on stressing this point. Passwords may be upper or lower case. There are no capabilities for automatic password aging or for modifying the default password failure rate. That default is three incorrect attempts. (2) One may disable internal/external floppy drives. This option does present in my opinion operational and recovery concerns which mitigate against its use. (3) One may invoke password protection at specified minute intervals. When one activates this option, a dialog box presents itself at the specified timeframe, and requests one to enter a password. One has three attempts to enter it correctly. Three password failures result in the shutdown of the system. If one activates this option, then one can press command+shift+L to lock the system at any time. One must supply the password to unlock the system. f. Although the program was easy to install, it was unfortunately easy to defeat. SafeLock proposes to lock the hard disk with a password and to make files and folders "invisible" until one has entered the correct password. Utilizing ideas suggested by two different authors, I as a novice user circumvented the protection (reference paragraph 7 for the complete citations). If I held down the option-shift-control-delete keys when starting the system, I bypassed the password protection. Although all files and folders were invisible, I used a copy of Norton Utilities for Macintosh (version 2.0) to examine the hard drive. The utility identified the "invisible" files and folders, and had the capability to undo the protection. 5. Product Advantages: My initial thought in acquiring the program was the attractiveness of bundling access control and anti-viral protection at a reasonable price. Testing of both components has admittedly diminished my enthusiasm. 6. Product Disadvantages: a. Utilizing an attack methodology already in the public domain presents a major problem for any product, particularly when that methodology is successful. Although I am a registered user, I have never received any update notification from the vendor. So in the interest of complete fairness one might wish to inquire whether the vendor has perhaps addressed the published attack scenarios. b. The program offers limited options, even if protection had been more effective. The absence of any audit or accounting capabilities may limit its application for multi-user systems, or for environments which require more stringent authentication/identification requirements in a password mechanism. 7. Comments: Readers may consult these references for additional reviews of SafeLock: (1) Linzmayer, Owen W., "Quick Clicks--SafeLock", MacUser, June 1993; and (2) Schneier, Bruce, "Data Guardians", MacWorld, February 1993. The second citation is an excellent primer on a variety of Macintosh security programs. It does not, however, address anti-viral programs. 2 [The opinions expressed in this evaluation are those of the author, and should not be taken as representing official Department of Army positions or a commercial endorsement.] FOR FURTHER REFERENCE: PRODUCT TEST NUMBER PRODUCT PT-13 MACSAFE II PT-33 FORT KNOX PT-35 FOLDERBOLT PT-38 EMPOWER II PT-46 CITADEL PT-56 NIGHTWATCH II PT-72 ultraSECURE 3