Re: Basic beginner's security for a new mac owner
- From: Bill <bbcollins@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:04:04 -0400
In article
<bbcollins-CC1DBD.08434011102007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Bill <bbcollins@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <1192103667.680760.154380@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
davemontoya@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Hey Everyone:
My name's Dave, I don't know too much about computers, but I recently
ordered a MacBook Pro for editing some music and video I have. I have
a question, thanks for reading this dudes, just what are the basic
fundamentle things I need to do to keep the bad stuff away, like
viruses and hackers and stuff like that? I don't need to be paranoid
or anything, but basically if something goes wrong I'll have a hell of
a time fixing it, so I need to take basic precausions, you know what I
mean? Anywa, if you could give me the down low on what to do to
protect myself, it would be really cool. Thanks dudes, also, if I
need to shell out a little extra bucks for extra software or hardware
I guess I'm down with that, so if you got any recomnmendations that
would be cool too. If you want a link to my music, I'm working real
hard on it but my friend Steve is writing his disertation so I can't
use this computer too much if you know what I mean.
rock on!
Dave M.
Some general recommendations:
Keep your brain engaged when using the computer. Don't do stupid things,
such as respond to phishing (criminals posing as legitimate businesses or web
sites trying to get
your personal information such as credit card numbers, security codes,
Social Security number, etc.) (Of course this applies equally to
telephone calls, paper mail, and face-to face contact with swindlers.)
Attend to physical security. Use a computer security cable to lock your
computer to the desk or other solid object. Carry it in a sturdy bag,
that is not easy for a thief to grab and run off with. Keep it with you
or securely locked up.
Make your main user account a Standard account, without Administrator
privileges. The computer has to have an Administrator account, but that
does not have to be your main user account. Use the Standard account for
all your routine work. Both accounts should be password-protected.
Whenever you try to install an application program the computer will ask
for the account name and password of the Administrator account before it
will install the application program. To set up different accounts and
privileges, go to System Preferences >> Accounts.
Turn on the Firewall that is built into Mac OS X, unless you are
connected to the internet by way of a router with a firewall, in which
case you may not need to have the OS X firewall turned on. To set up the
OS X firewall and other sharing features, go to System Preferences >>
Sharing. For the Router firewall, see the instructions for your router.
Exercise good sense with regard to installing application programs. DO
NOT install any application program unless you are sure it is from a
trustworthy source. For this one, keep your brain engaged.
Require a password to wake from sleep or screen saver. Go to System
Preferences >> Security.
Keep the Keychain locked when not in use. Set the Keychain to require a
password, and make that password different from your account password.
Go to Applications >> Utilities >> Keychain Access.
Use strong passwords, that are not easy to crack. Apple has some
guidelines on strong passwords.
To protect sensitive files from unauthorized viewing, you can use FileVault
to encrypt your entire home folder, or use an encrypted disk image to
hold the sensitive files. For FileVault, go to System Preferences >>
Security. For encrypted disk images, go to
Applications >> Utilities >> Disk Utility. Be aware that if you forget
the password for either of these, nobody including you will be able to
get at those files, so your data is lost forever.
For all of the above, see the on-screen Help file for details. All these
features are built into your brain or into Mac OS X, with no need to buy
any other software (You do have to buy the computer security cable and
the sturdy bag).
Some people like the program Little Snitch, which alerts you when the
computer tries to send messages to the outside world. This is
inexpensive shareware.
If you use wireless networking, use password-protected encrypted
transmission. See the instructions for your wireless router on how to do
this.
Use SSL (Secure Socket Layer encryption) for email. This is not
available with all email services. Apple Mail, which is the built-in
email client on your Mac, can handle this.
There are no viruses for Mac OS X in the wild, mainly because OS X is a
secure operating system that always asks the user before it installs any
application program. The user can be stupid and install an untrustworthy
program, but nothing gets installed without the user knowing it. The
best anti-virus program you can possibly get for any personal computer
is Mac OS X combined with your brain being turned on.
If you plan to run the WIndows operating system on your Mac, by any of
the several methods available, and you plan to use Windows on the
Internet, you WILL need anti-virus software for the Windows side. The
best advice is do not install Windows on your Mac unless you really have
to.
Very important:
Back up your data to external media. I recommend an external Firewire
hard drive. Do this faithfully. Ideally, you would store the backup
drive in some location other than the computer, so that a single
disaster (the house burning down, for example) will not destroy them
both.
--
For email, change <fake> to <earthlink>
Bill Collins
.
- References:
- Basic beginner's security for a new mac owner
- From: davemontoya
- Re: Basic beginner's security for a new mac owner
- From: Bill
- Basic beginner's security for a new mac owner
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