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What do I need to do to protect my Mac?

A1SteakSauce

A1SteakSauce

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 17, 2008
59
0
Im new to Mac.

1. Do I need to take extra precautions to protect it?
2. If so, what can I do to protect and secure it?
3. And can anyone "share" it? I saw it said Alexa under the shared label. Any explanations?
 
Kind of vague question, are you talking physically protect? Network protect? Virus protection?


Alexa? Are you on an unsecured network? If so that is another computer sharing that connection that has sharing enabled.
 
Sorry your right.

Virus protection.
The alexa thing went away. Thanks anyway though.

So right now im just concentrating on virus protection.
 
No need for virus protection, yet. While you are immune from most viruses, you still need to be cautious. You can install virus protection, but it's usually to keep them from spreading to other Windows users.

Things to keep in mind:

  1. There have been "viruses/trojans/worms" on OS X. None have been wild or made much of an impact. Most usually based on social engineering meaning they tricked users. (i.e., OSX.Leap.A: It tricked users into downloading a file that contained super exclusive screenshots of Leopard back in 2006.)
  2. You should have two user accounts - a standard and admin account. Standard should be the only one used on a daily basis.
  3. Just be sure of what you are downloading and where you are surfing.

If you need more info, check out these old threads. Picked them out because I posted in them and people benefited from them. There are countless more. Just do a quick search.

- Best practice to not run as admin?
- Kernel Panic, but not sure? This deals with a kernel panic and goes into spyware.
 
MarkMS said:
No need for virus protection, yet. While you are immune from most viruses, you still need to be cautious. You can install virus protection, but it's usually to keep them from spreading to other Windows users.

Things to keep in mind:

  1. There have been "viruses/trojans/worms" on OS X. None have been wild or made much of an impact.
  2. You should have two user accounts - a standard and admin account. Standard should be the only one used on a daily basis.
  3. Just be sure of what you are downloading and where you are surfing.

If you need more info, check out these old threads. Picked them out because I posted in them and people benefited from them. There are countless more. Just do a quick search.

- Best practice to not run as admin?
- Kernel Panic, but not sure? This deals with a kernel panic and goes into spyware.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. I just have one more question
This may seem like a stupid question but I am a new Mac user so bare with me. How do I create another account? and how do I make the one I am using now be the standard, and the other, the admin?
 
Remember to wear...

trojan_logo.standard.jpg


The computer only needs checking on the files you share, so setting up a folder with one of the free programs, aka anything but a Symantec product, will give you all the protection you need.

While most don't affect the Mac, you can still forward them on.
 
A1SteakSauce said:
Thank you very much. I just have one more question
This may seem like a stupid question but I am a new Mac user so bare with me. How do I create another account? and how do I make the one I am using now be the standard, and the other, the admin?
Click to expand...


Go to System Preferences>Accounts>hit the "+" sign and make a new account.

Make this new account the "Admin" account. Now, log into the new account and go to the System Preferences>Accounts>locate your old account and change it to standard by removing the check mark next to "Allow user to administer this computer".

Now, whenever you download a new app and place it in the Applications folder - you will need to Authenticate. This means you need to enter your "admin" username and password. This adds about 3 seconds to installing an app, but it helps if there was ever a virus that wanted to install itself. This keeps anything from installing unless you give it permission.

Check this easy to read guide from Princeton that talks about OS X security. If you have any other questions, let us know.
 
MarkMS said:
Go to System Preferences>Accounts>hit the "+" sign and make a new account.

Make this new account the "Admin" account. Now, log into the new account and go to the System Preferences>Accounts>locate your old account and change it to standard by removing the check mark next to "Allow user to administer this computer". This makes the old account into a standard one.

Now, whenever you download a new app and place it in the Applications folder - you will need to Authenticate. This means you need to enter your "admin" username and password. This adds about 3 seconds to installing an app, but it helps if there was ever a virus that wanted to install itself. This keeps anything from installing unless you give it permission.

Check this easy to read guide from Princeton that talks about OS X security. If you have any other questions, let us know.
Click to expand...

Thank you soooo much. You have been the most helpful person!!!
 
Sun Baked said:
Remember to wear...

trojan_logo.standard.jpg


The computer only needs checking on the files you share, so setting up a folder with one of the free programs, aka anything but a Symantec product, will give you all the protection you need.

While most don't affect the Mac, you can still forward them on.
Click to expand...

Hahah.

But on a serious note:

Run Onyx automation to keep your Mac running smooth and keep your computer up to date with Software Update.
 
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