Firewall access

[Peter Franks]

If you do not have any server side services running, enabling stealth is only going to make a hacker probing your system think that you are trying to hide the system because it has exposed services.

Without any of the services turned on, it is better not to use stealth so that the individual probing your system knows that no services are enabled to attack.

With any of these services turned on, using stealth often makes it more difficult to troubleshoot connections with the services and stealth does not effectively hide the system anyway.

The typical user does not have these services enabled. It is not relevant to browsing the web, sending emails, or etc.

It seems much of your interest is related to your IP address and privacy issues. Your firewall and stealth mode has no impact on websites collecting this information. To prevent websites from receiving your real IP address or other means of ID, you need to use an anonymizing service, such as Tor, or a proxy. Even then your IP address may be leaked via plugins, such as Flash. Hiding this information is not worth the effort of doing so.

Makes sense, the Stealth mode results I got on ShieldsUp were not as good as it showed before it was turned on, but, It would be interesting to see what percentage of people use that and if any were compromised by it, if anyone lived to tell the tale. I'm not fretting because I have to pay people quite a lot online, but just interested in people's experiences.

Probably the best piece of advice you could get at the moment.

Lets take a look at where you've got to:

Firewall turned on and stealthed.
No need for antivirus, sorted right?
No need for maintenance 'cos it does it itself.
Battery calibrated so that's healthy and ticking along.
A basic understanding of Disk Utility and partitions.
Getting used to Word on a mac.
Preview sussed.

Are you stalking me?

No, you're right, Had it not been for you guys on here and the likes of Munkery, GGJ's and other's help and informative links, I'd be crying into my Windows 98 of a night and fending of AV/Firewalls, Scanning for malware and viruses, CCleaner et al.... like I had been for the last 15 years.

Garageband is something I'm not even going to at the moment, or iPhoto, other than to use for albums, but am going to need Photoshop definitely for some stuff I have to present in layers mode. Am sure Elements 9 will suffice, my Photoshop on my PC was in use when the old King was alive.

Good luck with the penny whistle. Keyboards and Guitars I can help you with, because that was my previous life, but wind instruments, you're on your own. Sorry.

 

[munkery]

Follow these rules to maximize your security in relation to online financial transactions.

- Check the digital certificate of websites, such as banks and paypal, by clicking the lock icon to see if the certificate belongs to the right organization. This prevents login credentials from being stolen via sophisticated MITM attacks. ARP poisoning/MITM attacks can be detected using a utility such as Mocha.
- Always manually navigate to the logins of encrypted security sensitive websites and never login to these websites from links in emails, email attachments, instant messages, & etc even if the certificate appears to be legitimate. This prevents login credentials from being stolen via advanced phishing techniques that use cross-site scripting.
- Enable Mac OS X to use the CRL and OCSP to provide protection from invalidated digital certificates. The settings to enable system-wide use of the CRL and OCSP are accessible via Keychain Access. On the "Certificates" pane in the Preferences of Keychain Access, set the following:

Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP): Best Attempt
Certificate Revocation List (CRL): Best Attempt
Priority: OCSP

Also, there is no need to worry about MITM attacks if you are accessing the web from a network that you know is secure. Avoid performing financial transactions over public networks and always make sure to verify the digital certificate belongs to the right organization during any financial transaction.

Some users experience issues with the Mac App Store with CRL set to best attempt. This setting is only a backup to OCSP so it is ok to turn CRL off if you experience issues with MAS.

 

[Peter Franks]

Follow these rules to maximize your security in relation to online financial transactions.

Also, there is no need to worry about MITM attacks if you are accessing the web from a network that you know is secure. Avoid performing financial transactions over public networks and always make sure to verify the digital certificate belongs to the right organization during any financial transaction.

Some users experience issues with the Mac App Store with CRL set to best attempt. This setting is only a backup to OCSP so it is ok to turn CRL off if you experience issues with MAS.

I don't think any of us know our networks are that secure, especially as since I've got the MBP I'm always wireless. I can't use my office anymore so can't plug directly in where I use it from now, but it's not a public place, it's somebody's house now where I'm working out of. The https sites that the banks use are supposedly.... OK too.

Are you stalking me?

Lol. Nope

OK, let's see what you've learnt so far.... When I click Documents from the dock, why won't it stay open after I've clicked on a folder, then a file has opened, Can I only leave folders open by using the Finder instead? Is that only a quick look and out, the one in the dock? And, if that folder is in grid mode, but want to view the folder IN there as a list, that's only do-able in Finder right?

 

[Rowf]

OK, let's see what you've learnt so far.... When I click Documents from the dock, why won't it stay open after I've clicked on a folder, then a file has opened, Can I only leave folders open by using the Finder instead? Is that only a quick look and out, the one in the dock? And, if that folder is in grid mode, but want to view the folder IN there as a list, that's only do-able in Finder right?

Documents folder in the dock is just a quick way of accessing your files and folders. Clicking on a file just opens that file and clicking on a folder opens it Finder.
There is no way to leave the Documents folder on the dock open as far as I am aware, think of it as a shortcut to the files and folders stored in your Documents folder in Finder.

How you have the view set for the Documents folder also applies to the files stored in sub folders when accessing the Documents folder from the dock.
Change the view from a grid to a list on the dock and then you can view your sub folders as a list but that's it as far as I know.

It would be nice if the Documents folder in the dock could be manipulated a little more but, basically, it's a shortcut.

Folders and sub folders can be set for different views in Finder by using the View menu in Finder and setting the folder view in the accessed folder and selecting Show View Options.

 

[munkery]

I don't think any of us know our networks are that secure, especially as since I've got the MBP I'm always wireless. I can't use my office anymore so can't plug directly in where I use it from now, but it's not a public place, it's somebody's house now where I'm working out of. The https sites that the banks use are supposedly.... OK too.

If the network uses WPA2 with a strong network password and all users on the network are trusted, then you can be pretty sure it is safe.

Using https as defined previously provides a measure of protection even on untrusted networks.

 

[Peter Franks]

Documents folder in the dock is just a quick way of accessing your files and folders. Clicking on a file just opens that file and clicking on a folder opens it Finder.
There is no way to leave the Documents folder on the dock open as far as I am aware, think of it as a shortcut to the files and folders stored in your Documents folder in Finder.

How you have the view set for the Documents folder also applies to the files stored in sub folders when accessing the Documents folder from the dock.
Change the view from a grid to a list on the dock and then you can view your sub folders as a list but that's it as far as I know.

It would be nice if the Documents folder in the dock could be manipulated a little more but, basically, it's a shortcut.

Folders and sub folders can be set for different views in Finder by using the View menu in Finder and setting the folder view in the accessed folder and selecting Show View Options.

I don't know what it is, but the view in the folders on Windows, (duck, takes cover) was a lot easier on the eye than this blue folder durge and much quicker to find things, there seems to be a hell of alot more scrolling to get to stuff, or is it just me?

If the network uses WPA2 with a strong network password and all users on the network are trusted, then you can be pretty sure it is safe.

Using https as defined previously provides a measure of protection even on untrusted networks.

I should know that right?
My Wi-Fi connection is a bit on the rubbish side, YouTube for instance is lousy, Could/Would that stealth/firewall have made it any worse or just coincidence?

 

[Wheaty]

I should know that right?
My Wi-Fi connection is a bit on the rubbish side, YouTube for instance is lousy, Could/Would that stealth/firewall have made it any worse or just coincidence?

Coincidence. Unless you have specifically set up some interesting hosting, streaming, sharing, its probably just coincidence.

I'm sat behind a router firewall, and I have my macs one on, even though its probably over kill. And I am yet to have any firewall issues with day to day stuff...

on my wife's PC however...... but thats another storey

 

[Peter Franks]

Coincidence. Unless you have specifically set up some interesting hosting, streaming, sharing, its probably just coincidence.

I'm sat behind a router firewall, and I have my macs one on, even though its probably over kill. And I am yet to have any firewall issues with day to day stuff...

on my wife's PC however...... but thats another storey

No mate, wouldn't know how to.. just stops and starts alot today.
Speaking of security, the settings in Accounts and Security General to set up log in password are one and the same aren't they?

 

[Wheaty]

Speaking of security, the settings in Accounts and Security General to set up log in password are one and the same aren't they?

Thats right, so if you want to make sure no one fiddles with anything you can make sure you use a password to get access for just about everything.

Some users on here have an Admin Account, and a Separate Account for every day use just to be sure. (there are loads of posts about this if you want to know more)

Personally, its only me & the misses here so I only use one account.

However, If I go on holiday I do turn on the Guest Account, that way my dad, mother in law etc can use it without worrying that they will do any damage. Not that they will, there just super paranoid! Guest accounts delete user data when you log out.

Wheaty

 

[Rowf]

I don't know what it is, but the view in the folders on Windows, (duck, takes cover) was a lot easier on the eye than this blue folder durge and much quicker to find things, there seems to be a hell of alot more scrolling to get to stuff, or is it just me?

Bit off topic for this thread, but I find that using the Finder sidebar helps to keep things easy.
You can drag folders and files to the sidebar and access them there to save a lot of scrolling and digging around.
Spotlight can be useful as well once it's set up to give the results that you want.

Thats right, so if you want to make sure no one fiddles with anything you can make sure you use a password to get access for just about everything.

Some users on here have an Admin Account, and a Separate Account for every day use just to be sure. (there are loads of posts about this if you want to know more)

Personally, its only me & the misses here so I only use one account.

However, If I go on holiday I do turn on the Guest Account, that way my dad, mother in law etc can use it without worrying that they will do any damage. Not that they will, there just super paranoid! Guest accounts delete user data when you log out.

Wheaty

I used a standard account for a while but went back to my Admin account, there aren't really any benefits if you are the only user of your mac, passwords are required for system changes in both accounts and automatic updating only works in Admin account. It has to be manually invoked in a standard user account, so you could be behind in security updates when using a standard account without realising until you log in to your Admin account.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thats right, so if you want to make sure no one fiddles with anything you can make sure you use a password to get access for just about everything.

Some users on here have an Admin Account, and a Separate Account for every day use just to be sure. (there are loads of posts about this if you want to know more)

Personally, its only me & the misses here so I only use one account.

However, If I go on holiday I do turn on the Guest Account, that way my dad, mother in law etc can use it without worrying that they will do any damage. Not that they will, there just super paranoid! Guest accounts delete user data when you log out.

Wheaty

I think you're very good to let them touch it personally! I wouldn't trust my lot.

Bit off topic for this thread, but I find that using the Finder sidebar helps to keep things easy.
You can drag folders and files to the sidebar and access them there to save a lot of scrolling and digging around.
Spotlight can be useful as well once it's set up to give the results that you want.



I used a standard account for a while but went back to my Admin account, there aren't really any benefits if you are the only user of your mac, passwords are required for system changes in both accounts and automatic updating only works in Admin account. It has to be manually invoked in a standard user account, so you could be behind in security updates when using a standard account without realising until you log in to your Admin account.

It's just a bit more fiddly than I'm used to, same as opening a pic that automatically opens in preview, but unless I grab the lot and put them in there it won't give me the viewing 'next' pic option, like you got in Win**** without setting things up differently. Finder gives me several options in the side bar to go to the same documents etc.. Same as I don't get why I've got my username, and the Apple ID is in that list as well but both one and the same.

I've just set the log in password, I think it would wind me up too much to have the sleep password too, and it's only me who uses this really