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Feb
9
Peace Of Mind
Filed Under 1. HOW TO..., Advice, Rants, Security, Tips, Views | Leave a Comment
As many of you who read this blog know I am constantly reminding people to back up their data – I never seem to get tired of pointing this out. Just as importantly is securing the data you already have. Security can mean different things depending on your concerns and approach. For some it’s ensuring that you have that basic backup of your important information – that’s one kind of security – against data loss.
So, you’ve got your backup. Check. However, what happens if you lose or have your computer stolen? All that important information like your passwords, credit card information, writing, pictures, contacts, calendar – personal and professional information – all of it is at risk. It’s a very violating feeling to have your computer stolen. I’ve had this happen to me and it’s awful. Even if you have a backup the knowledge that someone may have access to your information is unnerving. You may have to cancel your credit cards, change all of your passwords, call colleagues or friends to be on the look out for any breached information you may have stored.
What can you do to make sure this doesn’t happen to you? These are my suggestions – each has advantages and disadvantages:
1. Give your computer a password! Many of my clients feel they don’t need a password because they’re the only ones using their machine. Please don’t get lulled into this trap. Give your machine a basic password – preferably something beyond 1234, your name or ‘password’.
2. Check out the Security System Preference Pane. There are some very basic things you can choose to do that can help dissuade a casual breach of access to your Mac – in an office or at home. Within this Preference Pane you’ll find the ability to require a password to wake your machine from sleep or a screen saver – someone passing by your machine will probably keep on going. You can also require a secure password to unlock other important Preference Panes – see screen shot.
3. Even with all of these built-in features if someone has physical access to your computer they can by-pass all of these measures by booting up your machine with a startup DVD or external hard drive. To prevent this you can utilize another free utility that comes with every Mac – a Firmware password. Each Startup Disk has on it a utility called Firmware Password Utility. With this you can implement a password at a deep level of the operating system. This will prevent someone from booting up your machine from another media, mounting the drive using Target Disk mode as well as other modes of starting up. This can also prevent diagnostic trouble-shooting modes so be aware of this.
4. Yet another security feature is Apple’s File Vault feature. This protects your Home directory with very sophisticated encryption standards. To you your data appears normal. However, if someone were to steal your machine your data would be secure, even if they booted up your machine from another source – unless they knew or figured out your password (hence no 1234 here)! An issue with Filevault arises with the use of Time Machine. Because File Vault encrypts your directory as a single secure image it will continually back up the entire image and not just the smaller changed files. This can fill up your backup destination much faster.
5. There are 3rd Party solutions as well some of which can help locate your stolen Mac, disable it remotely, take pictures of the thief, where they surf etc…Orbicule is one, MacPhoneHome another as well as Lojack.
6. One solution I’ve used in the past is Securikey – a USB security key approach. With this implemented, your laptop or desktop is only usable with the insertion of the specially formatted USB key – even if your password is breached. It encrypts your Home Directory like Filevault and the data is useless to a thief. If you lose your key the company keeps a backup set which you can get access to by identifying yourself properly with a prearranged authentication.
7. Backup is, as I’ve mentioned, security. An important step is to make sure that you don’t keep your backup and your primary source (computer) in the same location, especially when you travel. Thus, a diverse and secure approach to backup might include an offsite copy of important information using a service like MobileMe, SugarSync, iDrive etc…That way, in the case of loss or theft you will have recourse to those important files. All of these services encrypt their data on remote servers.
Aug
19
View in a web browser or download this PDF guide to exporting and archiving your iCal and Apple Address Book databases.
Jun
13
You just bought a new iMac or MacBook (Pro). You unpack it – it smells so new. It looks so beautiful. Those Apple people are so clever! You plug it in, press the power button. Nice chime (C-Chord actually). You choose your language. A cosmic movie plays welcoming you to your new computer in a plethora of the world’s languages. Yea! Now what?!
Apple portrays their computers as very easy to use – just plug it in and go. We all know, however, that as elegant as Apple’s operating system and applications are most people need help in navigating the many useful applications and services that come with every Mac. Making music, organizing pictures, editing movies, making DVD’s, syncing our machines, navigating OS X, backing up our data – so much to know. There are a lot of books out there – some are very graphic, some wordy, books for professionals and books for dummies.
As I get asked all the time about training I wanted to bring to people’s attention a series of training material I highly recommend. These are the Take Control series of eBooks. On offer are wonderful manuals on topics ranging from how to use .Mac (soon to be MobileMe), using a digital camera, backup practices, using Apple Mail, wireless networking 101, customizing Leopard, running Windows on your Mac, using Microsoft Office, iPod and iPhone manuals – just a ton of great information in an easy to use format and style. Please visit the website and check it out.
