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Locking folders - privacy protection

G

grunberd

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 23, 2008
2
0
Greetings to all
recently, I've become a little paranoid that if I leave my computer on all the time while connected to the internet, hackers can find their way into my info. Is there a good security solution I'm not aware of that can lock selected folders and my keychain to make access difficult for cyber thieves? Is there any other central file(s) I need to protect?
Thanks a bunch
 
Your Mac isn't going to get hacked so that people over the internet can browse your folders. You're being overly paranoid, don't worry about it.
 
I agree with edesignuk, but if you really really want to protect your files, then the easiest way is to use Disk Utility to create an encrypted sparseimage in which you place all of your files. You will mount and unmount this image using the password you chose when you created it. When it's unmounted, your files are inaccessible unless someone can crack the encryption.
 
blodwyn said:
I agree with edesignuk, but if you really really want to protect your files, then the easiest way is to use Disk Utility to create an encrypted sparseimage in which you place all of your files. You will mount and unmount this image using the password you chose when you created it. When it's unmounted, your files are inaccessible unless someone can crack the encryption.
Click to expand...
Just to clarify on this point. Don't put all of your files in it. If you drop your whole home folder in an encrypted Disk Image you will have just successfully made a right hash of your system. Encrypted Disk Images are good for putting certain stuff in that you're extra worried about though.
 
^^
bullet - dodge

Really... you should have no worries

But if you have financials or other things that are sensitive, the disk image will be totally sufficient for that purpose

Woof, Woof – Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
edesignuk said:
Just to clarify on this point. Don't put all of your files in it. If you drop your whole home folder in an encrypted Disk Image you will have just successfully made a right hash of your system. Encrypted Disk Images are good for putting certain stuff in that you're extra worried about though.
Click to expand...

You are right of course, I didn't mean this, but certainly phrased it poorly :eek:
 
I thought the encrypted disk images had a 500MB limit anyway.

They can go bad so whatever you keep in your encrypted disk image, back it up with another. Also, be sure not to keep the Disk Image password in the keychain.
 
edesignuk said:
Your Mac isn't going to get hacked so that people over the internet can browse your folders. You're being overly paranoid, don't worry about it.
Click to expand...

If only that were true. Did you see the post today about Safari users, ON THE MAC and windows, can have their hard drives accessed and files compromised, viewed, and etc...

Not very good job by Apple... what about OS X being secure... apparently not if running Safari.
 
BlueRevolution said:
... FileVault.
Click to expand...

Filevault won't prevent files being accessed over the internet while the user is logged in.

The same goes for any encrypted disk images - they are only secure when they have been dismounted, and therefore are no longer in use (or the user has been logged out, in the case of Filevault). If they are open, files can be accessed freely.
 
Jethryn Freyman said:
Filevault won't prevent files being accessed over the internet while the user is logged in.

The same goes for any encrypted disk images - they are only secure when they have been dismounted, and therefore are no longer in use (or the user has been logged out, in the case of Filevault). If they are open, files can be accessed freely.
Click to expand...

Good to know.
 
Another note on file vault, it's crap. Don't use it. Do a search (MRoogle link in my sig) on all the problems people have had with file vault. I for one lost every shred of data I had on my powerbook because something went wrong and it wouldn't boot up. All the files are encrypted uselessness and I had no proper back-up. These things happen. Unless you've got a load of sensitive data and you have a really good reason to suspect your computer is going to be physically stolen, it's not a lot of use anyway.
Encrypted Disk Images for more sensitive stuff, dismounted when not in use and unsaved unique password is a good way to go, I think.

P.S. Use firefox. ;)
 
More about creating encrypted files

Encrypted Disk Images for more sensitive stuff, dismounted when not in use and unsaved unique password is a good way to go, I think.

P.S. Use firefox. ;)[/QUOTE]

Thanks to all of you. Much better idea now of how to proceed. In fact, I've already created several images and now I'll take the very good advice of making a CD copy of the info just in case. Several questions remain:
1. Is there a way to safeguard the password info in my keychain? Does it automatically, always ask for a password before it opens info in it?
2. Are the images created are unchangeable? In other words, if I have electronic copies of credit card bills and I keep them as they come in, do I need to make new images and put both the new and the (mounted) old data files in it?
Thanks, and it's a pleasure to get such good and timely help!
 
grunberd said:
Encrypted Disk Images for more sensitive stuff, dismounted when not in use and unsaved unique password is a good way to go, I think.

P.S. Use firefox. ;)

Thanks to all of you. Much better idea now of how to proceed. In fact, I've already created several images and now I'll take the very good advice of making a CD copy of the info just in case. Several questions remain:
1. Is there a way to safeguard the password info in my keychain? Does it automatically, always ask for a password before it opens info in it?
2. Are the images created are unchangeable? In other words, if I have electronic copies of credit card bills and I keep them as they come in, do I need to make new images and put both the new and the (mounted) old data files in it?
Thanks, and it's a pleasure to get such good and timely help!
Click to expand...

1. The first time you open the disk image, the dialog will have a checkbox whether to store the password in your keychain. If you don't check this then it won't be stored and you'll have to manually enter the password every time you mount the image.

2. You have the option when you create the Disk Image to make it read and write, which gives you the ability to add and delete files from the image at will.

One more point, when you create an image, it's best to choose the sparseimage format. When you do this you will want to specify it's size at the largest size you expect the contents to grow to. The sparseimage will not initially occupy that much space on your disk, but will grow as you add content into the image until it reaches the maximum size you specified when you created it.
 
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