Noticed a new "Other" login. Hacked account?

[theramajor]

Today I noticed something strange on on my login screen. I noticed a new "Other" login. I've had this setup for months and never seen this before. Is my account compromised?

 

[Fishrrman]

I've never used it once, but my understanding is that "the guest account" is there so that a Mac user can let OTHERS use the computer, while NOT being logged into the owner's account.

Can you delete the "guest" account?
I'm not sure whether it's "removable" or not.
Try deleting it, and see what happens next.

But... just "leaving it there" should hurt nothing, nor does it indicate a problem...

 

[Mcmeowmers]

It sometimes appears during an update. I think I've had to turn it off in Preferences when it didn't clear. Try a reboot first and see.

 

[theramajor]

I've never used it once, but my understanding is that "the guest account" is there so that a Mac user can let OTHERS use the computer, while NOT being logged into the owner's account.

Can you delete the "guest" account?
I'm not sure whether it's "removable" or not.
Try deleting it, and see what happens next.

But... just "leaving it there" should hurt nothing, nor does it indicate a problem...

Guest User account is turned Off. There isn't anything to delete and I still see the u Other User login item. Rebooting didn't fix it. I've got people following me around and this is now another incident, I'm concerned.

 

[Fishrrman]

Have you tried:
1. Going to the users & groups pref pane
2. Clicking the lock and then entering your password, and then
3. Clicking on the "guest" account, and then
4. Making sure all the checkboxes in it are UN-checked?

 

[theramajor]

Have you tried:
1. Going to the users & groups pref pane
2. Clicking the lock and then entering your password, and then
3. Clicking on the "guest" account, and then
4. Making sure all the checkboxes in it are UN-checked?

The minus sign to remove it is missing.

“Allow guests to login to this computer” and “Allow guest users to connect to shared folders” are both unchecked.

 

[chown33]

The "Other..." icon in the initial screenshot has an ellipsis (...). That usually indicates that the action will lead to a dialog or other screen of some kind. In the case of logins, that's probably the "Enter name and password" dialog, which doesn't display a list of users.

I suggest clicking "Other..." to find out where it leads. I recommend doing this while NOT connected to any network.

My guess is that this is nothing more than the name & password dialog, but it's been so long since I disabled the guest user that I'm not completely sure.


Also, please explain what this refers to:

... I've got people following me around and this is now another incident ...

It's the first time you've mentioned anything of this sort, so we have no context to interpret it.

 

[theramajor]

It’s just a blank name and password field when I click “Other”

The "Other..." icon in the initial screenshot has an ellipsis (...). That usually indicates that the action will lead to a dialog or other screen of some kind. In the case of logins, that's probably the "Enter name and password" dialog, which doesn't display a list of users.

I suggest clicking "Other..." to find out where it leads. I recommend doing this while NOT connected to any network.

My guess is that this is nothing more than the name & password dialog, but it's been so long since I disabled the guest user that I'm not completely sure.


Also, please explain what this refers to:


It's the first time you've mentioned anything of this sort, so we have no context to interpret it.

It’s just

 

[chown33]

It’s just a blank name and password field when I click “Other”

With that screen / dialog visible, you could restart your Mac.

I suspect what will happen is that it will present only that login dialog as the login screen, rather than the login screen with 2 icons (your user name and "Other...").

If you don't want that blank login dialog, I think the setting to change it back is under the Security pane in System Preferences. I advise looking for and finding that setting first, before restarting your Mac.