Locking individual folders

[Forest91]

Afternoon (for me anyway) all

I noticed an application today that allows one to lock aspects of their system (i.e. a desktop folder) and as such means a password has to be entered in order to gain access. That application is 'Espionage'

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/espionage.html

I would love something like this but at this moment in time I really really really don't feel like buying anything. Anyone got any info regarding freeware that might be able to do a similar job to this? At the end of the day I would simply like to put some of my folders behind a password, I work in a very public environment and if someone does gain access to my computer I don't want some of my most sensitive documents to be within their grasp.

Many thanks

 

[r.j.s]

No freeware, but you can create a password-protected disk image that will accomplish the same thing.

 

[FSMBP]

Well, here's kind of a free alternative (although it's not perfect or ideal). Check out the pictures below for further help.

1. First, highlight the folder you want to Lock and press Apple+I (aka "Get Info).

2. In the bottom left hand corner, unlock it if it's not unlocked. Then select your username and select "Write only" (Shown in second picture).

3. Next, under Everyone select No Access (Shown in first picture).

So next time you want to add something to the folder or browse it, press Apple+I on the folder and change your username's access.

It's a temporary solution.

 

[r.j.s]

It's a temporary solution.

That only works if the person you are trying to keep out doesn't know how to change permissions.

 

[FSMBP]

True. It was just a solution that's work for me (as I am the Admin of the Mac). I don't know if the OP is.

 

[Forest91]

Well, here's kind of a free alternative (although it's not perfect or ideal). Check out the pictures below for further help.

1. First, highlight the folder you want to Lock and press Apple+I (aka "Get Info).

2. In the bottom left hand corner, unlock it if it's not unlocked. Then select your username and select "Write only" (Shown in second picture).

3. Next, under Everyone select No Access (Shown in first picture).

So next time you want to add something to the folder or browse it, press Apple+I on the folder and change your username's access.

It's a temporary solution.

Many thanks for your detailed explanation my friend
That is indeed an excellent temporary solution, and invariably solves my problem in the short term. However as you say it is not ideal (little fiddly) and something automated would be preferable.


Anyone else got any ideas?

 

[r.j.s]

Anyone else got any ideas?

Password protected disk image. They are easy to create, go to Disk Utility and create new image. Make sure you use encryption, set your size, make it sparse if you don't want it to take up the whole size right away, and create it.

 

[MacDawg]

Password protected disk image. They are easy to create, go to Disk Utility and create new image. Make sure you use encryption, set your size, make it sparse if you don't want it to take up the whole size right away, and create it.

Make sure you don't save the password to the keychain

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[r.j.s]

Make sure you don't save the password to the keychain

I was thinking that, but forgot to write it - thanks.

 

[RumMunkey]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/528.16 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/528.16)

Here's a trick:



In Terminal, type mkdir .myprivatestuff



(Don't forget the leading ".", it's what tells OS X to HIDE this folder).



Done. You've now created a folder in your Home directory called "myprivatestuff" that is hidden from finder.



To access it, in Finder, go to "go" and "Go to Folder..." and type in "myprivatestuff".



(The only catch here is that "go to folder" remembers the last folder you accessed, so if you don't want it showing up in that list, just go to a different folder after you're done in your private folder.


You could probably come up with some sort of Apple Script to automate the opening of the folder, then a second folder to hide your tracks if you play around with it.



More details: http://www.tuaw.com/2007/09/17/secure-your-mac-crouching-user-hidden-folder/

 

[MacDawg]

Hiding a folder does not secure it at all

The secure way has already been suggested... the password protected disk image using Disk Utility. Now, you can hide that disk image as well... but hiding does NOT secure it.

Woof, Woof - Dawg