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What is the best way to secure my MacBook Pro Retina incase of theft?

Hieveryone

Hieveryone

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 11, 2014
5,632
2,347
USA
I recently got a MacBook Pro Retina. I turned on Find My Mac and I also set a password that has to be entered immediately after the screensaver or computer goes to sleep.

I know I can encrypt the hard drive but I heard this slows down the computer.

What else can I do?

Thanks
 
I've encrypted my early 2013 rMBP hard drive and didn't notice any performance difference. There are troubleshooting roadblocks that take awhile to remove which slows down troubleshooting, but otherwise its pretty transparent.

If the data you store on the laptop is that sensitive, the best way to protect it is to encrypt the drive using a strong password. You can try it and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, you can decrypt and revert to using an unencrypted drive.

That doesn't protect you from physical theft, but keeps your data secure.

You also want to have a iPhone or iPad set up and handy so you can attempt to erase the rMBP remotely as soon as it goes missing.
 
Hieveryone said:
I recently got a MacBook Pro Retina. I turned on Find My Mac and I also set a password that has to be entered immediately after the screensaver or computer goes to sleep.

I know I can encrypt the hard drive but I heard this slows down the computer.

What else can I do?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Add these two measures:
1. Set a firmware password to prevent anyone from booting into your Mac from a secondary drive and hence accessing your data.

2. Enable FileVault. Without FileVault on my 512GB SM0512F SSD, I get 750MB/s read and 720MB/s write. With FileVault enabled, I get 720MB/s read and 700MB/s write. So the performance hit is almost nonexistent.
 
You can secure the data by using FileVault 2 as mentioned but that does nothing to secure your laptop against theft - it just protects your data from falling into someone's hands.

To best protect the laptop against theft, you only option as I see it, is to practice safe computing habits, like never leaving the laptop alone in public places.
 
Hieveryone said:
I recently got a MacBook Pro Retina. I turned on Find My Mac and I also set a password that has to be entered immediately after the screensaver or computer goes to sleep.

I know I can encrypt the hard drive but I heard this slows down the computer.

What else can I do?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Find My Mac only works when it's connected to wifi. Just so you're aware. It can be accessed from another computer via iCloud.com. That's helpful in case you don't have an iPad or iPhone.

If you're worried about keeping your information secure, I'd use something like 1Password. It generates alphanumeric passwords. Then if a password database is hacked, it's harder for the hacker to figure out your password. 1Password is locked down with a master password that you create.

You might also consider storing files in a cloud instead of locally. Of course keep files locally stored somewhere in case you lose access to the cloud or don't have an internet connection.

But of course you want to prevent the theft in the first place. First, never leave your mac unattended in public. You might even consider a case that disguises the fact that it's a Mac. Anymore a lot of laptops are aluminum or silver plastic with black keys, but only macs have that glowing Apple logo. If there's a way to use a Kensington lock or something similar without the port they no longer include, I'd use it if you leave it in an office or a dorm room or something. It looks a little paranoid in public lol.

Also make sure to include your Mac in any homeowner's or renter's insurance coverage. That will usually cover theft and at least with renter's, damage from burst pipes and lovely things like that.
 
KUguardgrl13 said:
Also make sure to include your Mac in any homeowner's or renter's insurance coverage. That will usually cover theft and at least with renter's, damage from burst pipes and lovely things like that.
Click to expand...

It would be better to take out a separate policy on the computer, if possible, rather than lumping it in with your homeowner/renter insurance. This way, if you have to make a claim for accidental damage or theft, your overall rate won't be in danger of increasing.

State Farm offers "personal items policies" and that's where I have my MBP covered. Costs about $34/year.
 
saturnotaku said:
It would be better to take out a separate policy on the computer, if possible, rather than lumping it in with your homeowner/renter insurance. This way, if you have to make a claim for accidental damage or theft, your overall rate won't be in danger of increasing.

State Farm offers "personal items policies" and that's where I have my MBP covered. Costs about $34/year.
Click to expand...

Yeah you can get extra add-ons with a lot of homeowner's policies. I rent, so I had to get enough coverage for the value of my personal property. Sure, I could have a scheduled policy where I have each valuable item appraised, but that's a PITA.
 
Thanks for your suggestions. This is everything I've done so far.

Find My Mac is on

Filevault is on (no decrease in speed :))

Firmware password set

Password required immediately after sleep or screensaver begins

Is that all I need to do? Anything else?
 
Things you have listed sound fine.

If you have files that you do not want to fall into someone's hands, do not keep them on the mbp . Keep them on a on external disk or secure home network .

The mac book pro retina, is a thief magnet, when talking laptops, limit what you store on it. Good hackers, given time, may get into it, best precautions is not storing assess if you do not have to .
 
I liked the original FileVault, but not FileVault 2 because it only allows a very limiting Guest account. I employ the following measures for preventing against theft:

1. Buy Orbicule's Undercover. It allows you to take pictures and screenshots, log keyboard typing and locate the laptop through wi-fi. Just create a "bait" account allowing the theft to play with your laptop.

2. Register your laptop to iCloud. You'll be able do wipe your data, locate your device or lock it.

3. Set up a firmware password (Command + R) at startup. This will make impossible to do a clean installation in the stolen Mac.

Keep your sensible data inside an encrypted sparsebundle. Set permissions to the umounted bundle (e.g. chmod -R 700 ./my_encrypted_bundle). Also set permissions to the mounted bundle (e.g. chmod -R 700 /Volumes/my_encrypted_bundle). Only NSA or some professional spy will scan your RAM for encryption keys (if your laptop was stolen while sleeping), so I think your data is pretty safe against thefts this way.

In short, have an anti-theft software, create a bait account without password, use iCloud for 'bricking' your Mac and setup a firmware password to block clean OSX installations.

----------
jeffg819 said:
Undercoverhq.com


I have this installed on all the family macs.
Click to expand...

Me too. It works nice (from time to time I perform a theft simulation) and it's a 1-time purchase only. No need for renewing licenses.
 
Hieveryone said:
Thanks for your suggestions. This is everything I've done so far.

Find My Mac is on

Filevault is on (no decrease in speed :))

Firmware password set

Password required immediately after sleep or screensaver begins

Is that all I need to do? Anything else?
Click to expand...

Anything else? Leave your Macbook Pro Retina at Starbucks coffee and see what happens. :apple:
 
Hieveryone said:
Does putting a firmware password slow down MBPr?
Click to expand...

No.

FileVault 2 does slow down the Mac, but only slightly, so it's not noticeable.

Meanwhile, adding a firmware (EFI) password doesn't slow down the Mac at all, because all it does is just to lock the EFI and prevent anyone else from starting up the Mac using a secondary boot drive.
 
I was first going to say use the kensington lock until i looked at the side of mine, and oh.....LOL
I would suggest Find my mac like youve set up, and try not to lose it.
 
Well if one is going to go that far, there is an outfit that sells a case for laptops that will securely wipe the laptop clean of data when its opened by an unauthorized user... or the wrist band is disconnected... but it kinda limits your portability.... but if you have valuable info on that laptop that someone really wants, then they can always kidnap you and the laptop and coerce you into releasing all the password and security info.... but then there are cyanide pills... so depending how far you want to take this.

What the OP has done so far is good enough for the grab and run crowd. Perhaps if one is dealing in illegal activity and the evidence is on the laptop and your life depends on it, I may take additional measures.
 
This isn't going to secure your laptop, but it's still useful if your laptop is lost and then found by an honest person:

Put your personal info on the lock screen, eg your phone number with "reward if found".

It's under the Security system pref pane.

You never know--there might be one or two honest people in a Starbucks???
 
Idefix said:
This isn't going to secure your laptop, but it's still useful if your laptop is lost and then found by an honest person:

Put your personal info on the lock screen, eg your phone number with "reward if found".

It's under the Security system pref pane.

You never know--there might be one or two honest people in a Starbucks???
Click to expand...

Nice, just found that little info bit you can add to the lock screen. Well I like to think there are. I've lost my phone on the bus and someone's handed it in. I would do the same for someone else, be it a wallet, laptop or phone. :)
 
Find my Mac is so far a better way to anti-theft, I am using ilostfinder to protect my phone. Also you can install some tracking app on your mac.
 
Not theft protection but I use Keycard - pairs with your iPhone via BT and locks the screen once out of range. Around the office it effectively locks and unlocks 2x iMacs and the MBP just by me taking my phone with me - saves hours of password entering. It has a 4-digit pin in case the phone dies and works in addition to the normal password on the lock screen.

Great tip about the login screen message in case of lost-but-found-by-a-good-samaritan :)
 
simonsi said:
Not theft protection but I use Keycard - pairs with your iPhone via BT and locks the screen once out of range. Around the office it effectively locks and unlocks 2x iMacs and the MBP just by me taking my phone with me - saves hours of password entering. It has a 4-digit pin in case the phone dies and works in addition to the normal password on the lock screen.

Great tip about the login screen message in case of lost-but-found-by-a-good-samaritan :)
Click to expand...

That's a pretty clever idea with the Bluetooth, might look into that.

Personally I don't like having a Guest or 'bait' account. So all I've done is;

-Sign my Mac and iPhone up to 'Find my Mac/iPhone'
-Firmware password
-Filevault
-Message on lockscreen with my mobile number and message to contact me if lost

It's not perfect but essentially if I don't have it then no one else is able to use it. Having some sort of GPS and cellular connection would really be perfect, that way I can always know where it is and remote lock/wipe it providing it has power.
 
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