Securing Apple Mac OS X

This section covers the basic steps you need to take to keep your Macintosh OS X computer secure and free of viruses: setting your computer to check for virus updates automatically, turning on your firewall, managing the accounts on your computer, and creating secure passwords.

Software Update

One of the best ways to keep your computer secure is to regularly update your software. You can set your computer to check for updates automatically. To set Macintosh OS X to automatically update, follow these steps:

1. Open the Apple Menu.
2. Click System Preferences.
3. Click Software Update. A Software Update window, similar to that shown below, will open.
   
   
4. Select the Check for Updates box.
5. Click the drop-down menu to the right of the Check for Updates box. From here, Apple will allow you to choose whether you want to update your software daily, weekly or monthly. We recommend that you choose weekly.

Turn on the Firewall

A firewall is used to prevent unwanted intruders accessing your computer. For example, when a program on your system tries to access an outside network, it first needs permission from your firewall.

To turn on the Macintosh OS X firewall, follow these steps:

1. Open the Apple menu.
2. Click System Preferences.
3. Click Sharing. The Sharing window, similar to that shown below, will open.
   
   
4. Click the Firewall tab.
5. Click the Start button. The firewall is now activated.

Account Management

It is important to manage the user accounts on your computer, so that you can control who has access to your documents and folders. To edit the user accounts on your computer, follow these steps:

1. Open the Apple menu.
2. Click System Preferences.
3. Click Accounts. An Accounts window, similar to that shown below, will open. The active user accounts for your computer are displayed on the left of the window. From here, you can change the username, password or picture of an account.
   
   

Account Password Management

We recommend that you make sure that all user accounts on your computer have a good password, and that you manage your passwords carefully. You should think of your account password as the equivalent of locking your house or car. Here are some tips for password management:

• Random - When deciding on your password, avoid the more obvious choices, such as the name of your pet or your birthday. A good password is one that is more random in nature. Include both letters and numbers, and use combinations of both lower case and upper case letters.
• Variation - If you have multiple user accounts, we recommend that you use a different password for each account.
• Hard Copy - Many security experts warn against writing down a password, in case it falls into the wrong hands. However, we recommend that you maintain a hard-copy of your passwords in a safe location, somewhere that only you have access to, for example a locked file cabinet or safe. We feel that this is a safer option than using only a limited number of passwords.

To change an account password, follow these steps:

1. Open the Apple menu.
2. Click System Preferences.
3. Click Accounts. The active user accounts for your computer are displayed on the left of the window.
4. Click the account whose password you want to change.
5. Click Change Password.
6. Authenticate with your current password.
7. Enter your new password in both the Password box and the Verify box.
8. Click Change Password.