Couldn't my Mac be accessed via Airport?

[imatthelibrary]

Airport is turned on my default and I think that is totally unsafe. I didn't use a strong password when I first got my Mac, and that part is my fault. But what is to keep someone from accessing my computer wirelessly through Airport when it was turned on and I had that weak password? And even if a person didn't want to access my computer, if their computer was infected with malware or whatever, what would keep an automated program from guessing the password and connecting to my computer or anyone else's?

This worries me, and I'm surprised Apple or any company would have wireless on by default.

 

[sheepopo39]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean.

Do you mean if someone could access your computer from being on the same wifi network as you? Yes, but the feature for someone to access your computer on the same wifi network is disabled by default I believe. They would also have to know your username and password for your computer.

 

[imatthelibrary]

Well I noticed that it was turned on right after I turned my Macbook on for the first time, where you go through setup assistant and then after that you're on the desktop.

What I'm worried about since I had no control over whether it was on or off is that my computer was being displayed for those looking for wireless access. The name of my Macbook account is Doug, and I'm worried that with Airport being on by default that there was a wireless listing for Doug that people could connect to. I didn't use a strong password, so this worries me even more.

 

[sheepopo39]

There wouldn't be, you have to manually set for it to be displayed.

 

[imatthelibrary]

I'm keeping it off since I don't use wireless and I don't want to drain my Macbook battery, but in theory would it have been safe to leave Airport on then if you have to set it up? What confuses me is without setting Airport up and just clicking the Airport icon on the top right of the screen I could see other wireless connections. But it's impossible for them to see me?

 

[sheepopo39]

Ignore what I said earlier, I understand what you mean now. The networks listed under airport are not computers, but are wireless internet networks. They will not be able to see you.

 

[maflynn]

Airport has a firewall which protects against intrusion, by using NAT (Network Address Translation) additionally its advised that you enable WPA security which further enhances your security.

If you feel that you want to enhance more security, enabling OSX's firewall and also start using littlesnitch.

Personally, I leave my computers on 24x7 and so far I've never once incurred any sore of intrusion.

If you go here Upshields you can test how protected your computer is.