Mac Security?

[Nukeban]

What, if anything, should I be doing and/or learning about securing my Mac?

For 25 years I've done basically nothing and it's always worked out, which is surely a reason to applaud the Mac. But, given the state of the world etc, I thought maybe I should see what others are doing and try to learn from it.

If it matters, I'm running Sierra on a ten year iMac.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

Apple products are actually the most secure personal devices in the market right out of the box. You should be pretty safe if you follow common security protocols:

• Always have at least one current Time Machine or other backup of your data.
• Use unique complex passwords for all of your computer and online accounts.
• Don't reuse or share your passwords.
• Never save passwords on a public computer/device.
• Use a password manager like 1Password.
• Never give you password to anyone via texting, email, etc. No legitimate company will ever ask for it.
• Never provide personal information like a Social Security number, bank account information, security PINs, etc. without proper cause.
• Don't fall for popups stating your computer is infected, or email scams.
• Never open/install anything that you didn't request or aren't familiar with the sender/company.
• Never install anything downloaded from third-party or file sharing sites - always acquire installers directly from the software company's website.
• Always install any security updates for macOS or updates to third-party software.

As computers and versions of macOS and software age, they stop being supported and don't receive the most current security updates. Your Mac is starting to show its age, and Apple officially supports Macs for 5 years. Sierra is now 5 years old and 4 macOS versions behind (soon to be 5 when Monterey is release later this year). macOS Sierra and High Sierra are no longer receiving security updates from Apple.

Hope that helps.

C

 

[Nukeban]

Thanks Cory. I didn't know about 1Password so I'll be checking that out.

I hear what you're saying about being out of date, and get that could be a security problem. Besides not wanting to spend $2,000 to upgrade my machine, which wouldn't really be an upgrade anyway as I'd get less of everything, I don't seem to have a very good attitude about riding Apple's cutting edge. Being out of date is almost a strategy here. If it ain't broke don't fix it etc.

I am doing a major upgrade on my backups strategy, something I should have done, like 20 years ago.

My wife recently reported some vague gossip about a new attack strategy on Macs by the evil doers. Have you heard this? Anything I should know here?

Never download anything from file sharing sites? Can you be more specific? What file types should I avoid? What kind of files can malware be transmitted in?

I have Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac, but haven't run it in awhile. Is this any good? Are there similar products I should consider?

Thanks for your advice above, and anything further you'd care to share.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries.

I use 1Password and love it! It syncs to all of my Apple devices, so I can use very complex passwords without having to remember them. There are other third-party password vault solutions too, but I can't remember them off the top of my head. And, macOS Monterey/iOS 15 will have similar functionality built-in for managing passwords.

Using older hardware/software is fine, as long as you are diligent and understand the limitations going forward. I used a 2009 iMac running macOS 10.13.6 High Sierra up until a few months ago when I purchased the M1 Mac mini.

I understand your feelings about the new Mac lineup, and everyone has their opinion. Most folks shouldn't move to the latest and greatest all the time. But, I can tell you, my M1 Mac mini is faster than any Mac I have used and I love it. Yes, there are caveats and trade-offs, which happens every time Apple moves forward/changes their technology, but very technical people like me are willing to deal with that as the new hardware/direction evolves. I have been doing Mac support for 30+ years.

Always good to have a backup strategy. Not a questions of if a hard drive will fail, but when.

It depends on what attacks she heard about.

Correct - never acquire cracked software, or installer files from non-reputable sites like torrents or other file sharing sites. Malware is mostly from clicking links on websites/emails and installing software that is prompted for install by those means. Malwarebytes is a great way to prevent/remove it.

C

 

[Nukeban]

Yes, there are caveats and trade-offs, which happens every time Apple moves forward/changes their technology, but very technical people like me are willing to deal with that as the new hardware/direction evolves.

Yes, there clearly are users who benefit from enhancements to both the hardware and software. And then there is another group who use their Macs primarily for simple tasks like email, web, viewing photos. I can't put a number on how many folks are in each group.

What I see happening is that computers in general are evolving beyond what many, maybe most, people want to use computers for. This puts the sellers of computers in a bit of bind as it's getting harder for them to know what to brag about on their sales pages. So they brag about the same old stuff like speed, and because they are skillful sellers lots of people buy it.

So for example, an SSD drive is faster, but typically holds far less data than
what used to be available. So some buyers are having to figure out how to split up their operations between the built in drive and an external drive. If one really does need the speed then this extra effort is worth it. But most of the time I'm guessing they don't really need the speed, so the extra effort is just a new burden they must bear.

I used to check out the features of each new version of OSX, and rarely found anything I needed. So after awhile I stopped looking. To be fair to Apple, the same thing has happened with my favorite video editor. I'm literally about ten versions behind now.

But anyway, it's a big world containing many different people, and to each their own is always a good philosophy.

Yes, it's clear you are very knowledgable about Macs, and thus make for a great resource. Thanks for all the time you invest in this forum, I'm sure a great many people are happy you are here. Me too!