ParhamS

Q: Is power nap a vurnability?

Lets say, a malware get on my MBP and uses power nap (turns it on) to operate a botnet, how would a user know?

I can't even see the usefulness of the option. Did anyone else long for this capability? Its a bit creepy and its on by default.

 

Should I be concerned about security?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, Yosemite

Posted on Aug 2, 2015 1:06 AM

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Q: Is power nap a vurnability?

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  • by K Shaffer,Helpful

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Aug 2, 2015 1:20 AM in response to ParhamS
    Level 6 (14,362 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 2, 2015 1:20 AM in response to ParhamS

    Not likely in the scenario you suggest.

     

    •How Power Nap works on your Mac - Apple Support

     

    OS X Yosemite: About Power Nap

    •OS X Yosemite: Change Power Nap settings

     

    OS X Mavericks: About Power Nap

    •OS X Mavericks: Change Power Nap settings

     

    OS X Mountain Lion: About Power Nap

    •OS X Mountain Lion: Change Power Nap settings

     

    There are several layers of security built into OS X.

    Especially after OS X 10.8.5 - Mt Lion. The system

    is constantly changing, overall, for better - hopefully.

     

    And then there is this other thing, called... App Nap.

    OS X Yosemite: App Nap

     

     

    In any event...

    Good luck & happy computing!

  • by ParhamS,

    ParhamS ParhamS Aug 2, 2015 1:20 AM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple Music
    Aug 2, 2015 1:20 AM in response to K Shaffer

    I have it tuned off as I have no use for it. But the presence of this feature (given that is was accompanied with firmware changes to make the feature possible) along with no way of knowing if the MBP is actually turn off does raise the question, would I know?

    At least in the past when the laptop was off, it was off. Now, one can hope its off.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Aug 2, 2015 6:09 AM in response to ParhamS
    Level 9 (50,198 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 2, 2015 6:09 AM in response to ParhamS

    If you are worried about it, shut down your Mac instead of putting it to sleep.

  • by ParhamS,

    ParhamS ParhamS Aug 2, 2015 6:32 AM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple Music
    Aug 2, 2015 6:32 AM in response to Barney-15E

    Thanks for the response. How could I know if the mbp is actually shut down? (Without having to opening The lid to check every time).

    Apple removed the sleep indicator.

     

    BTW. It's not a matter of being worried. I would like to know.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Aug 2, 2015 6:42 AM in response to ParhamS
    Level 9 (50,198 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 2, 2015 6:42 AM in response to ParhamS

    You choose Shutdown and it shuts down.

    If you choose Sleep, it sleeps. If you close the lid, it sleeps.

  • by ParhamS,

    ParhamS ParhamS Aug 2, 2015 6:55 AM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple Music
    Aug 2, 2015 6:55 AM in response to Barney-15E

    That doesn't help, but thanks for the response.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Aug 2, 2015 7:04 AM in response to ParhamS
    Level 9 (50,198 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 2, 2015 7:04 AM in response to ParhamS

    Well, you're going to have to provide more details of exaclty what you want. If the pulsing indicator light no longer functions, then you only have what you did to determine if it is shut down or sleeping. Without that light, there wouldn't be any way for you to tell short of starting it up and checking the log files for SHUTDOWN_TIME and BOOT_TIME entries.

    There might be a program that shows the history of boot times, but I don't know what it is.

  • by ParhamS,

    ParhamS ParhamS Aug 2, 2015 7:38 AM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple Music
    Aug 2, 2015 7:38 AM in response to Barney-15E

    I have a 2014 mbp retina that doesn't come with the indicator for sleep state.

    The computer has wake on lan and power nap features and does NOT require a password to turn on.

    I'm curious to know the security features that would prevent a malware from mimicing system processes that access the Internet why the computer is in sleep mode.

    Can a malware change the command that is sent when I choose shut down from menu and instead put it to sleep?

    Im new in asking question on forums, I am hoping to learn something.  Not necessarily and urgent issue or something that I'm losing sleep over.

     

    I'm also baffled why the sleep indicator was removed. Suprised there are still the power bottom and shut down "features" left on the device.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Aug 2, 2015 7:45 AM in response to ParhamS
    Level 9 (50,198 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 2, 2015 7:45 AM in response to ParhamS

    If you let someone have physical control of your Mac, they can install anything they'd like to make it do anything they want.

    If your mac is sitting asleep connected to the internet, nobody can install anything.

     

    If you in a network that manages downloads, anybody in that organization with the necessary access could poison the softwareupdate library on the network server. There should be some organizational safeguards that prevent that from happening.

    Suprised there are still the power bottom and shut down "features" left on the device.

    While I don't usually shut down my Macs, I have on occasion found a need to do it. I'm pretty certain that a lot of people do shut down their Macs as opposed to just letting them sleep as I do. Why does it surpise you that they would leave those options available?