[ravedog]

Hi, I'm trying to secure a laptop... Is there a way to disable the USB and Firewire ports on a Mac to keep someone from hooking up an external storage device and copying off files.... networking and DVD burning can be prevented from various setting in system preferences.

This will be a stand alone Mac not attached to any network, so it cannot be controlled by OS X Server or it's workgroup settings.

[.Neo]

You could create an account without administer privileges, after that tell it to only use a "Simple Finder" and a selected amount of applications (uncheck Disk Utility etc.). This can be done by going to System Preferences > Accounts. It should prevent people from actively browsing the computer and external drivers.

[ravedog]

thats a start. but if someone were to plug-in a usb key or a firewire drive - it would just show up in the finder, and i don't think you can eliminate using the finder, or can/should you?? what does simple finder allow you to do (or don't) compared to the regular finder?

[reader50]

If you knew the right drivers to remove from /System/Library/Extensions you could remove the support drivers for USB and FW mass storage devices. I'm not familiar enough with those drivers to tell you which ones to pull.

You ought to be able to pull all the FW drivers. But you need some USB drivers, even for a laptop. I think the keyboard and trackpad still map out internally as USB devices.

[ravedog]

Thanks for the idea on the extensions. Does anyone know what specific ones should work if this is the right route?

[larkost]

You can actually use Workgroup Manager settings without using a MacOS X Server. I have it documented here:

Workgroup Management without a server - Provider Notes