"Assuming that 'because it's a Mac, it's safe' is no longer wise" is probably one of this book's most important themes. It has been my experience that too many Mac users "know" that OS X is secure and therefore they have nothing to worry about. This book shows just how wrong that attitude is.
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Member since:2005-07-06
Some good suggestions but I would take some exceptions to the following.
"Avoid wireless, even bluetooth (was a electronic warfare tech in the Navy, forget security, your wide open, even your plastic case PC is mine) "
I run a wireless home network and though it would not be impossible to compromise it it would be hard enough that you would either give up or I would find out you were attempting to hack in before you actually did so.. If the proper precautions are taken it is reasonably safe. Also my neighbor is on the City Police force and if you were parked across the street from me for very long you would probably have someone tapping on your window. Besides, I was the one who informed him that he was running a wireless network that was unencrypted. (Daughters friend hooked it up so they could connect a laptop and did not secure it. :-) )
Anyway, wireless can be secured well enough for the home user not to have to worry to much.
Member since:
2006-01-08
Just download this pdf,
http://homepage.mac.com/hogfish/.cv/hogfish/Sites/.Public/securing-...
Oh and don't give your admin password to just anything, don't use MS or Symantec products or really anythiing that runs as root all the time.
Watch for phishing email scams, run P2P gotten apps in a fake "user" for awhile. Run clamXav to rid the windows malware before passing it on.
Run a port scan once in awhile from a website that offers such service like scan.sygate.com
Clone your boot drive occassionally to a external, keep disconnected, and make file backups daily using Deja Vu (search Apple)
Actually keep two copies, if your first clone gets owned, c boot off a installer cd and Disk Utility erase w/zero all infected drives and reverse clone from second clone.
Watch for suspicious windows asking for your admin password, know what processes are running and what they are, search online for the answers.
Install Little Snitch to block unauthorized network connections
Enable the Mac OS X firewall and log for maximum protection,
Check to make sure no services are running in System Prefs>Sharing
Do not allow others to be or use admin
Use a low level debit card online with funds transfered in person only from another account with no ATM or internet access. this way if money is lost, it's the banks fault. Microsoft software is everywhere, buisneses are more insecure than the Mac using public in general.
Use longer than 14 character alpha/numeric passwords 45 characters is prefered (botnets create all the password combinations, the more characters the harder and longer it takes to generate a list)
Avoid wireless, even bluetooth (was a electronic warfare tech in the Navy, forget security, your wide open, even your plastic case PC is mine)
Mac OS X is pretty secure, but nothing is 100% safe, a ounce of prevention is cheaper than a ton of cure.
So be safe than sorry.
Edited 2006-02-08 02:05