6 months in mac family, but am still learning

[Sossity]

I have read that macs are supposed to be secure, but are there any basic things I can do to make it more secure?

as I am still sort of learning mac os, I may need step by step directions

I am currently on a macbook pro i7 2010, snowleopard 10.6.3

 

[spinnerlys]

Run Software Update to update to Mac OS X 10.6.5, as I can see, you still run 10.6.3.
What do you want to secure anyway?
Do you use passwords?


Hmm, maybe this can help too:

Mac Virus/Malware Info

Also have a look at the following links to learn more about Mac OS X:

Mac OS X Basics

Helpful Information for Any Mac User by GGJstudios

"How to maximise your MacRumors troubleshooting experience" created by mad jew in 2006

MRoogle is a good tool to search these fora for already existing threads about questions you have. It might be able to answer you quicker than waiting for an answer.

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A more descriptive and precise thread title will help cater to the right audience and get you more responses. (see rule #3 under Minor Problems)
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[mrsir2009]

Lol I've been in the Mac family all my life and I'm still learning

Anyway, as long as you are reasonably careful about what you download and the websites you visit (and the applications you give access to) your Mac can't really get infected with anything Macs can't get viruses/trojans etc because everything that gets access to the core functions has to have your permission. So if your careless and give permission to everything, then your Mac may well get infected with the Trojan.

 

[iBryton]

My suggestion is don't download many programs that use up your ram when you turn on your computer.

I have uploaded a video a while ago on some little mac tricks, they're just extra. Maybe one of the 6 have actually been useful to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqLbAlDmzrg

 

[mulo]

(and the applications you give access to)

speaking of apps, check the link in my signature.

 

[Dented]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

Macs are generally immune to viruses, but Trojans are a different matter - a Trojan is simply a piece of software that claims to be innocent and useful, but is actually malware underneath. Anyone can download and install a Trojan if they're not careful - malware authors rely on people doing just that - and there are Trojans written for Mac OS X doing the rounds.

The obvious thing to do is just be very selective about what software you choose to install, and where you get it from. Pay attention to any warnings OS X tries to give you, and don't spend the whole time logged into your computer as an administrator, since that escalates the permissions that any dodgy software may be able to exploit - instead, set up a separate admin account and demote your day-to-day login to ordinary user level. You'll still be able to do anything you want, but you'll be asked by the system for your admin login anytime it's needed, which should be a handy prompt for you to think about whether program X really needs that access.

 

[Sossity]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

Macs are generally immune to viruses, but Trojans are a different matter - a Trojan is simply a piece of software that claims to be innocent and useful, but is actually malware underneath. Anyone can download and install a Trojan if they're not careful - malware authors rely on people doing just that - and there are Trojans written for Mac OS X doing the rounds.

The obvious thing to do is just be very selective about what software you choose to install, and where you get it from. Pay attention to any warnings OS X tries to give you, and don't spend the whole time logged into your computer as an administrator, since that escalates the permissions that any dodgy software may be able to exploit - instead, set up a separate admin account and demote your day-to-day login to ordinary user level. You'll still be able to do anything you want, but you'll be asked by the system for your admin login anytime it's needed, which should be a handy prompt for you to think about whether program X really needs that access.

could you give step by step directions? or even some photos?

 

[AdamRock]

My suggestion is don't download many programs that use up your ram when you turn on your computer.

I have uploaded a video a while ago on some little mac tricks, they're just extra. Maybe one of the 6 have actually been useful to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqLbAlDmzrg

lol that video was pretty helpful, never knew you could move the icons [on the top right] toolbar

 

[Dented]

could you give step by step directions? or even some photos?

Sorry, I don't have time for photos, but basically you want to do this:

1. Open System Preferences
2. Open "Accounts" (under the "System" heading)
3. If the padlock icon in the bottom left of the screen is closed, click it to make changes (and enter your password when prompted).
4. Use the + button just above the padlock to create a new account, making sure you select "Administrator" from the drop down list at the top of the dialogue. Give it a memorable name (like "Admin") and a good strong password, but make sure you remember it!
5. Once that is set up, click on your own name under accounts, and uncheck the "Allow user to administer this computer" checkbox. Repeat this for any other users you may have set up.
6. Click the padlock again to prevent any more changes.

From now on you (and any other users) will only have "standard" access, meaning you'll always get prompted for that Admin account's name and password whenever you're installing new software, updating the system or making other changes, or any time any anything else in the background tries to do anything potentially dodgy.