MacOS High Sierra can be hacked simply by typing "root"
Apple might be making some of the most secure operating systems in the world, but boy, when the company's engineers make a mistake, they really make it a memorable one. In case you haven't heard yet, High Sierra, the most recent version of MacOS can be hacked incredibly easy by anyone who has physical access to the device. Apparently, all you have to do to gain full access to the device.is to log in using the username "root". Just four little letters and you're in.
The flaw has first been recently discovered by security researchers, then confirmed by various online publications that tested it out for themselves. If you haven't manually set a password for the root account, which exists by default on the latest MacOS, anyone can simply type "root" in the username field of the log-in screen, leave the password field empty, then click the Unlock button twice and they're not only in, but have full access to the operating system and all of its settings. The good news is that this vulnerability can only be exploited by people who have physical access to the Mac, but the simplicity of the hack is baffling.
Apple called it a "Logic Error"
Apple has acknowledged the problem and has already started rolling out a patch, but if you don't have it yet, the simplest way for you to avoid this vulnerability is to set a password to the root account. If you've installed Apple's patch and you actually need the root account, you're going to have to re-enable it and set a new password first. Hopefully, for Apple's sake, this will be the only major security issue with the newly launched High Sierra or, at the very least, the ones that will be discovered in the future won't be as hilarious as this one.
