authentication

When you attempt to install a program or perform other administrative tasks in OS X, the system will prompt you for a username and password before continuing. Generally when such prompts show up they will not go away until you press either the OK or the Cancel buttons; however, sometimes errors might occur in which the authentication window might unexpectedly close.

When this happens, upon performing an administrative task the system will display the prompt but immediately close it without letting you supply credentials and authenticate.

Recently MacFixIt reader Scott wrote in about an experience with such a problem when … Read more

Creating files and folders in OS X can generally be done without requiring additional steps, but sometimes you may run into situations where the system either claims access is denied or that you first must authenticate to make modifications to the current folder.

This behavior happens because your account does not have proper write access to the folder in which you are working, which may be purposeful in some cases. By default, the permissions in OS X are set to allow you access to your account's resources, but will restrict you from modifying or even reading other resources, including … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions about enabling screen zooming in accounts on OS X, bookmarks being duplicated by iCloud, CAC card readers not authenticating properly in Lion, and iCal showing up behind Dashboard widgets. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present answers here, we welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

NOTE: The "contact us" box on the MacFixIt page for e-mailing us your questions will hopefully be back … Read more

Passwords can be phished, and carrying an extra key fob security device for accessing sensitive sites can be inconvenient. So Intel is putting authentication technology into its chips that will allow Web sites to verify that it's your PC logging into your online account and not an imposter or thief.

Intel Identity Protection Technology is being added to the chipsets of some Core and Core vPro processor-based PCs from HP, Lenovo, Sony and others, that began shipping to consumers this summer, according to Jennifer Gilburg, marketing director for the authentication technology unit.

This is two-factor authentication, which adds an … Read more

Apparently a major security hole has been found in OS X Lion systems that are set up to accept authentication through LDAP servers, where users may be allowed to log in to the system without providing a password. For networked systems that uses LDAP-based authentication for managing users and restricting network resources, this may be a fairly severe security risk.

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a technology that handles access to directory services on a network, with one of its uses being to deploy network user accounts to PCs on a network. The technology is extensively deployed by IT … Read more

Illegal downloads of some Fox Networks TV shows have increased since the company established an eight-day delay before its TV shows are made available on Hulu and Fox.com, according to TorrentFreak.

The torrent news Web site tracked several popular Fox shows--including Hell's Kitchen and MasterChef--on BitTorrent over the last week to see if there had been an increase in illegal download activity. The results are alarming.

"During the first five days, the number of downloads from the U.S. for the latest episode of Hell's Kitchen increased by 114 percent compared to the previous three episodes,&… Read more

Fox Network announced late today that it will begin delaying Web access to many of its popular TV shows to give cable and satellite TV providers greater exclusivity with programming, essentially putting up a de facto pay wall around its content.

Beginning August 15, only those people who subscribe to a participating video distributor will be able to view TV shows on an Internet portal the day after shows air on the network, the company said in a press release. All other viewers who are used to seeing episodes of "The Simpsons," "Bones," and "Glee&… Read more

Web-based storage firm Dropbox confirmed this afternoon that a programmer's error caused a temporary security breach that allowed any password to be used to access any user account.

The San Francisco-based start-up attributed the security breach to a "code update" that "introduced a bug affecting our authentication mechanism." Access without passwords was possible between 1:54pm PT and 5:46pm PT yesterday, the company said.

"This should never have happened," Dropbox co-founder and CTO Arash Ferdowsi said in a blog post. "We are scrutinizing our controls and we will be implementing additional … Read more

Imagine logging in to Facebook or eBay with just a blink of an eye. A new gadget for consumers may soon make that possible.

Designed by the Hoyos Group, a device called EyeLock uses iris-recognition as an alternative to passwords to log you in to password-protected Web sites and applications. Although similar eye-scanning devices are already used in the business and industrial markets, Hoyos calls EyeLock "the first and only portable iris-scanning device for consumers."

The scanning device, which resembles a wand, plugs into a base that connects to your PC via a USB port. After you install the software and choose the sites and applications that you want to iris-protect, you pass the scanner in front of your eye. A snapshot is taken of your iris to confirm your identity. Assuming you're the real you, you're then granted immediate access to the secure Web site or application.

With security always a primary concern, the company boasts that the device is unhackable.

"Every time you log in, it reads your iris and creates a unique key, which is a series of numbers, and this key changes every time you log in, so no one can hack it," Tracy Hoyos, assistant marketing director, said in an interview with CNN.… Read more