How safe is Timbuktu for controlling OSX Server at distance

[Anonymous]

I want to control our server (OSX 10.3.3) from my home and plan to use Timbuktu to do that. Can anyone tell me if there are any pitfalls in doiing that. If so, what are the measures to prevent that.

I know about Remote Desktop but the price is quite high as this setup is only for my personal benefit and not required by my company.

[AllanMarcus]

I’ve been using TB2 for years and I love it. No pitfalls to report.

[Anonymous]

Sorry I lead you in the wrong direction.

I use Timbuktu also. What I’m interested is how safe it is. Can it be intercepted or hacked when I’m having a connection with my server.
Is it encrypted etc.
Should I use a secure connection when using it ex VPN?
That are the thing that worry me.

[Anonymous]

I have a security and hacking book with some information about lots of Remote Control applications. The only that they do not have anything wrong to talk about is Timbuktu. I use it for more than 10 years… without problems!!

[Anonymous]

Here is an excerpt from Netopia.com FAQs–this is kinda old (OS 10.0) and I haven’t found any newer reference to Timbuktu security that adds anything. Netopia support rocks IMHO and if you need more info I suggest contacting them directly.

“Netopia has … a security enhancement, available in the Timbuktu Pro 2000 and higher Windows versions as well as Timbuktu Pro for Macintosh v.5.2.3 and higher, which dynamically scrambles and encodes all keyboard and mouse data that is sent from the guest to the host machine on a per session basis.

“Based on customer feedback regarding the performance, complexity and cost issues of implementing a full standards based PKI security solution, we believe that our current solution offers the best balance between security and performance. As with all aspects of the Timbuktu product suite, we remain committed to continuing improvement, and are working with various security vendors to develop ways to simplify the deployment and maintenance of an even more comprehensive security solution.”

[Anonymous]

If you want a free alt to Timbuktu, VNC works very nicely in a ssh. I’ve been using “Chicken of the VNC” on the workstation side and OSXvnc on the remote server. Sorry I don’t have the URL’s in front of me, but you could google for the software.

In terminal run this command on the workstation:

ssh -L 5900:127.0.0.1:5900 [email protected]

after you login you’ll need to run on the remote server OSXvnc on port 5900. This is important since you just forward all traffic from 5900 to the ssh in the command above. You only need port 22 open on the firewall.

/Applications/OSXvnc.app/osxvnc-server -rfbport 5900 &

Lastly, run Chicken of the VNC on your workstation with the following settings.
Host: 127.0.0.1
Display/Port: 0
Check shared display
leave Password blank and Remember password unchecked.
Click the connect button and that’s it.

NOTES: if you login as root in the ssh command you might/can see the Login Panel. Also, you need to keep the terminal window alive otherwise you’ll kill the connection!

Experiment with it. It’s a great, free alt to Timbuktu.

[Anonymous]

I use it across a VPN from home, which means you don’t have to leave the Timbuktu port open, and have all the encryption you need. Works beautifully.

Fraser

[Author]

Posts