How much do you care about security under Mac OS X?

koyikoyi
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I know that Mac OS X is much more secure than windows in its nature and design. But I am just too used to worrying about security in the windows world and kind of becoming paranoid about it.



So, my question is: What do you do to protect yourself in Mac OS X?

Here are a few answers that I can think of:



1. Do nothing.

2. Update when the update utility tells you to.

3. Use antivirus softwares.

4. Use firewall softwares(there is one built-in, huh?)

5. Use some spyware/adware/malware control softwares.

6. ...Add yourself... :P



Please point me to articles on the web about security under Mac OS X if you know of any.



Thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Make sure the firewall is on, update when they come out.



    That's it.



    There are no viruses or worms for the Mac. Period. Anti-virus packages just protect Windows users you may send infected files to. (And where did you get those nasty files in the first place? Ta-da!)



    Not sure I know of any spy or malware, either. If you're concerned about such things, go grab Little Snitch, it lets you know when any app tries to connect on any port - you can see what's going on, and categorically allow or deny known behaviours, and be alerted to new suspicious ones. I run it from time to time, and it's never popped up anything of note.



    Basically, relax. You're in good hands.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    curiousuburbcuriousuburb Posts: 3,325member
    OS X: "When you care enough to use the very best."



    Software Firewall On.

    Security Update regularly and Permissions repair weekly.

    PithHelmet blocking ads and limited Cookie settings.



    And I think I've still got "auto open attachments" off in Safari and Mail.



    Otherwise, a bit of macabre vicarious pleasure at the misery of the Win world.

    (Except when it means I have to fix family PC machines due to virus/worm/trojan/spyware/... )



    Quote:

    Originally posted by koyi

    Please point me to articles on the web about security under Mac OS X if you know of any



    Google Says...
  • Reply 3 of 9
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/security/





    Basically, use all of those features with the exception of FileVault, although I don't know whether that's improved since I last heard.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    code mastercode master Posts: 344member
    I don't use the firewall or virus checking, but I only allow admin accounts (ie, me) to connect via secure shell/ftp and no anonymous ftp connections. So far the worse behavior I've seen are ignored attacks on the web/ftp server and the SMB server spawning so many threads that the system slows down.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    I update when updates are available, keep firewall on (haven't had it on all the time, though).



    I set OS X to ask for password when returning from sleep and screen saver.



    I have my own user account and then a "common" account that my friends can use freely. It's a managed account, can't launch all the programs. My desktop is very personal with the calendar, to-do and stuff always open, I don't want others poking around if I can help it.



    I would have liked to use a FTP server just a while ago, but I am too security conscious to make extra users on this machine just to give access to FTP. I'd like to be able to keep public FTP and Windows file sharing, and to be able to create FTP-only users, who cannot login remotely or locally. Dunno if this is possible, haven't looked into it.



    I have disabled all cookies by default in Firefox and insert exceptions (like web forums) manually. I greatly dislike the opposite, blacklist-type solution for this kind of problem.



    I have considered using, but have not yet set Filevault and Open Firmware password. I'm not sure if a laptop in sleep with these two enabled is really secure, of if a proficient guy could pick the Filevault password from swap on another computer and open the Filevault contents.



    I am going to setup an automatic net backup *somehow* once I get my BSD box installed and ready. Haven't looked into it yet, but it's a high priority. I find proper backups would be the single most important security measure for most people, but hardly anyone makes backups.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by tonton

    Why not make this a poll?



    Computer security is not something that can be reduced into a poll. People have differing security needs and situations. Even if you put together a poll, there would always be security measures you did not consider but which are important for someone else.



    If you think a poll of the *most common* security measures is in order, go and make one, but it definitely calls for a different thread.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    koyikoyi Posts: 22member
    Thanks for all your replies guys. I have never imagined that I could get so many replies to this post You are the best!



    Quote:

    Originally posted by tonton

    Why not make this a poll?



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gon

    Computer security is not something that can be reduced into a poll.



    I tried to make it a poll just now but since it is hard to group all the security tips and guides into only 10 options, I quitted. Perhaps we can keep this thread alive or make another new thread so that we will have a collection of security tips?
  • Reply 8 of 9
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by koyi

    ...Perhaps we can keep this thread alive or make another new thread so that we will have a collection of security tips?



    The best security tip i know actually is:

    USE A MAC (even with all gates open, there is nothing that could really harm the system)
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