Follow these easy steps to protect the personal data on your device running macOS or Mac OS X.
Whether or not you use a personal computer or a public computer, there are plenty of actions you can take to improve your security and privacy. Here are 15 Mac-hardening security tips to lock down your Mac and your data. Lock Down Access to Your Mac. Create a standard account (non-admin) for everyday activities. Apple released macOS 10.15 (Catalina) on 7th Oct 2019 and now it is publicly available for download. With multiple features presented at the WWDC 2019, here’s an overview of the new security and privacy features introduced in Catalina. Enhanced Gatekeeper Gatekeeper, is an important outer layer of security, designed to. Amazon.com: mac privacy screen. Data Security Shield for High Clarity Widescreen Computer Monitor - Anti-Scratch & Anti-Glare Desktop Monitor Protector - UV & Blue Light Filter. 4.3 out of 5 stars 23. Sell apps on Amazon; Become an Affiliate; Advertise Your Products.
1. Easily encrypt your Mac with the built-in FileVault.
Turn FileVault on to make your files are unreadable if someone else gets hold of your computer while powered off or locked.
How:System Preferences > Security & Privacy > FileVault
2. Set a password for your account and disable automatic login.
Remember to require your password after your Mac sleeps and of course, use a strong, lengthy password. Note that Disable automatic login has been removed from macOS Sierra.
How:System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General
3. Update macOS regularly.
Don’t ignore those installation prompts! Remember you can check for updates at any time.
How:Apple icon > About This Mac > Software Update
4. Make sure the firewall is turned on.
Enabling the built-in firewall will block incoming connections. You can also choose to allow only signed software to accept incoming connections under Firewall Options.
How:System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall
5. Enable stealth mode.
Being in stealth mode means your Mac will not respond to connection attempts from the network.
How:System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall > Firewall Options
6. Set the computer to log out after a period of inactivity.
The default for automatic logout is 60 minutes but shorter is better.
How:System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General > Advanced
7. Require an admin password for system-wide changes.
This helps protect against malware doing widespread damage.
How:System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General > Advanced
8. Control which apps are accessing your location.
Verify what’s using your location data and disable any location services you don’t need.
How:System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Location Services
9. Restrict which types of apps are allowed to run on your Mac.
For more protection, grant permission only to the Mac App Store.
How:System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General
10. Review which apps have access to sensitive data.
In particular, protect personal data such as your contacts and calendar info.
How:System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy
11.Stop sending diagnostics and usage data.
This data can include information such as the apps you use and your location.
How:System Preferences > Privacy > Diagnostics & Usage
12. Check which sharing services are enabled.
Disable things like screen sharing, file sharing, printer sharing, remote login, etc. unless you’re sure you need them.
How:System Preferences > Sharing
13. Install DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials in your browser.
Our Privacy Essentials browser extension has built-in tracker network blocking, smarter encryption, and, of course, private search, all designed to operate seamlessly together while you search and browse the web.
How: Get the extension for popular browsers from https://duckduckgo.com/app
Congratulations! You’ve just taken a big step to increasing privacy and protecting the data on your Mac. If you’d like to delve further, we recommend this in-depth technical guide.
⇲ You can also download a printable PDF of all these tips.
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Apple released macOS 10.15 (Catalina) on 7th Oct 2019 and now it is publicly available for download. With multiple features presented at the WWDC 2019, here’s an overview of the new security and privacy features introduced in Catalina.
Enhanced Gatekeeper
Gatekeeper, is an important outer layer of security, designed to prevent malicious software from running on your system. It ensures that all new apps you install — from the App Store or the internet — have been checked for known security issues by Apple before you run them the first time.
From macOS 10.15 Catalina, Gatekeeper will now perform known security checks periodically to check that code has not been tampered with. Also all software, whether quarantined or not, and regardless of how that code is loaded, will be scanned for malicious content.
In a future version of macOS, unsigned code will not run by default.
Notarization
In order to run on macOS Catalina, Mac apps, installer packages, and kernel extensions that are signed with Developer ID must also be notarized by Apple. It will help users gain more confidence that the software they download and run, no matter where they get it from (App Store or the internet), is not malware by showing a more streamlined Gatekeeper interface.
For macOS 10.14.5, Kernel extensions signed after April 7th 2019 must be notarized in order to load
For macOS 10.15: All software must be notarized from June 1st 2019
User Privacy Protection
User privacy protection (aka Data Protection) is designed to ensure that even if malicious software is able to get around Gatekeeper, it doesn’t necessarily have access to your most sensitive data and resources.
macOS Catalina will now protect most of the common locations where you store your files, such as Documents, Desktop, and Download folders, Trash, iCloud Drive/other cloud storage providers, as well as external, removable, and network drives. Apps must also request your permission to perform key logging, or to capture still or video images from your system. Similar to Mojave, the list of approved apps can be viewed and managed in the System Preferences Privacy pane.
User consent is not required for an app to create new documents in any of these protected locations, just to read existing contents, the contents of files that are already there. For example, a file transfer app can continue to save new files to the users downloads folder without triggering a consent prompt.
Dedicated System Volume
macOS Catalina will run in its own private, read-only volume, so there will be no way for malicious apps to write files to the volume or alter existing files. The installation of macOS Catalina creates two volumes, one with the operating system, and another with data, segregating the two types of files.
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User-space System Extensions
macOS Catalina will be the last version that will run existing kext’s (kernel extensions). Kext’s are slowly being replaced with system extensions (user-space apps), which will exist outside of the protected system volume. This will ensure that if something is wrong with an extension, either from poor design or an attack from malware, the system itself is not affected.
Furthermore, installing kext’s or system extensions will likely require a restart of the Mac.
Removed Support for 32-bit Apps
Catalina has removed all support for 32-bit code. Thus, a number of older apps that have not been updated to 64-bit will cease to run.
Activation Lock on Macs
Similar to iPhone, if you have a Mac which contains T2 security chip, you will now be able to prevent the unauthorized use of your Mac, if it is lost or stolen. This T2 chip can be found in Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro from 2018 or later, and the iMac Pro.
Find My
Find My Mac will allow you to locate a lost device even if it’s asleep and not connected to the network, via crowd‑sourced location and Bluetooth beacon. When you report your device as missing and another Apple user’s device is nearby, it can detect your device’s Bluetooth signal and report its location to you. User Privacy is not compromised as device information sent is completely anonymous and encrypted.
Wrap Up
Apple is incorporating multiple security features and enhancing the existing ones considering the emerging threat landscape. Most of these security features provide decisions in user’s hands, but what will help user to take right decision? How can you protect your Mac from the security threats out there? Here are a few defensive measures to minimize the level of risk:
- Keep your Mac updated: Apple will release security updates to the OS to address new vulnerabilities. Keeping your system up to date will help to keep you safe from new threats.
- Install Quick Heal Total Security for Mac: Updates will help eliminate vulnerabilities, but having good security software will provide an extra layer of protection. Use antivirus with on-access scanner and privacy program to detect browser threats, scan your system, and remove any malware.
- Stay aware: Follow a few blogs or sites devoted to Macs and Mac security. Staying up to date about what the latest OS X or macOS threats look like, will help you avoid them. Avoid downloading applications and other files on your computers from torrent websites or any untrusted source.
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I hope this list will help you anticipate the changes required when you decide it’s time to upgrade to macOS Catalina. What changes in macOS Catalina are you most concerned about, or looking forward to? Let us know in the comments, below.