MacBook Online Security

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Permalink Reply by Marek on February 19, 2013 at 21:00

In Mac this service could be done manually as no automatic options are always work on time.

Go to the left top corner when you have grey apple sign and find the option Software Updates. 

Follow this procedure and repeat this action as many times as  you will see the message that there is no more updates for your operating system. Do not relay just on automatic options. Especially updates of firmware can be very problematic and very very important

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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on February 19, 2013 at 21:20

Thanks Marek

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Permalink Reply by michaelw on February 19, 2013 at 21:40

I've generally found that the automatic updates on Mac OS Mountain Lion arrive fine - you'll normally get a notification window when they appear. The automatic update settings are visible by opening system preferences & going to 'software update'.

Note that you'll only see today's security update if you have installed Java (which isn't installed by default) - and don't confuse Java with Javascript (which is used on a lot of web pages) - they are two separate technologies.

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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on February 20, 2013 at 9:31

Thanks, I assume that most ordinary users wil not use Java, my programming days (as an ex ZX Spectrum user in the 80s) are way behind me, but I seem to remember Java is a programming language. Are there packages that need Java to run, or is it a case of we will not even know it is not there?

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Permalink Reply by DrWhams on February 20, 2013 at 9:36

Java is falling out of favour on websites as Javascript and HTML5 become more powerful, so there are fewer occasions where you may need it.  You do need it if you have any desktop applications that use it (Inkscape for instance, which is a great drawing program).  It's quite likely you may need it if you were working for a company that had custom internal websites/software written in Java, in which case the security issue gets a lot more vexed.

Java is now probably most extensively used for programming Android devices, though note that the problems with Java arise from Oracle's poor security response for the desktop Java VM, whereas Android uses a version called Dalvik that is totally independent of Oracle.

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on February 20, 2013 at 10:45

Justin welcome to first class computing!

I've been using Macs for more than two decades. But only in the last 11 years have they been UNIX-based (the foundation on which the Internet was built).

You have the best possible start with online security by owning a genuine UNIX-class operating system (Mac OS X). There are a few other things you should consider doing to further harden your installation:

• Go behind a router (i.e. a hardware firewall) - you've got that already.
• Switch on the software firewall - I think you've done that
• Open a second account on your machine with full Admin privileges and use mainly, an account with deliberately limited privileges – do as I say, not as I do ;-)
• Have strong account passwords (e.g. word + number + another word)
• Consider installing the free Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac. I have it and use it. Do bear in mind it often updates several times a day and often takes up a lot of processor %. In several years of use, it has never found a virus on any of my Macs and I do wonder if it is worth having, considering that it often bogs down the normal operation of the machine. I would not feel much exposed if I uninstalled the whole thing and had no formal virus protection, as such.
• Get LastPass. It is the ultimate Internet password manager and can create immensely strong passwords at the click of a mouse. I have done this recently and I recommend all computer users do so (not just Macs)
• Never click links in unexpected emails that look like phishing expeditions (all computers)
• Consider having a browser that permits extensions that can intercept scripts and gives you an opportunity to manage them. You might be surprised at how many are running in a given web page.

You will probably never see a virus, some of which plague the DOS-Windows world.

Not so much for security as such, but for back up:

• Use Time Machine – needs an external hard drive, but a great peace of mind
• Install DropBox

Hope that helps!

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Permalink Reply by DrWhams on February 20, 2013 at 11:00

If you follow those steps then you most likely will never see a virus on Windows either, just as I haven't in the 20+ years I've been using it every day.  There is nothing about the architecture of Unix-based OSes that make it inherently any more secure than an NT-based OS (as Windows has been for 15 years) -- the same concepts of privilege separation and account-specific permissions apply there.

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on February 20, 2013 at 11:50

Paul I suspect you are an expert, experienced DOS-Windows user. The average punter on typical new machine is likely to be better off with Mac, which have the fundamental advantage of the UNIX base (BSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD).

UNIX was originally developed on a cost-no-object basis by the then richest company in the US – AT&T at Bell Labs. That is the pedigree. Windows still looks home-made.

Unfortunately, some friends run DOS-Windows and unlike you, they have had problems with Windows viruses. It saddens me to hear the grief they've had and the hours and hours wasted, trying to combat a Windows infection. Sometimes they've had to re-install the operating system. And yet, like gluttons for punishment, they're so used to the DOS-box methods that they stick with that OS.

Like most things in this world, you get what you pay for.

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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on February 20, 2013 at 12:42

Interesting point about sticking to windows systems Clive, I was tempted to do so just for the obvious ease, but my wife pretty much forced my hand- which is why advice you guys are offering is so much appreciate! Thanks again

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on February 22, 2013 at 22:08

May all "Windows" users have wise wives.

As you suspect Justin, the relative freedom from viruses (some would wrongly say near total freedom) is one good reason to move to Mac. The main reason to switch to Mac is not because they look beautiful: it's because of their Operating System: the true UNIX foundation plus the Macintosh user interface on top. I think of it as a combination of industrial strength + smooth elegance.

Before Mac OS X, Apples were little targeted for viruses due to the unusual-ness and proprietary-ness of Apple's system. In the late 1990s (when Apple Computer was down to its last £3 billion in the bank), they wanted and needed a better foundation and they set about comparing alternatives, including building one from scratch.

Bill Gates is said to have emplored Steve Jobs to adopt NT as the basis (a friend once installed Windows NT on his DOS box and bitterly regretted having done so).

The thing about UNIX is that, because it was developed by a phone company, networking and security were there from the beginning. Fundamental. They were not bolted on as an afterthought, as they were in other, inferior systems. Windows has copied much from Mac and borrowed much from UNIX. But that does not make it real UNIX. The theory behind and capabilities of UNIX are mind-blowingly impressive. (Linux is another UNIX-class Operating System).

It is the UNIX and Mac OS X found in iOS that underpins the success of devices like the iPhone and the iPad.

Macs are beautiful wonderful devices, but they're certainly not perfect.

It's just that, despite their faults, they've come closer to perfection than anything else.

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Permalink Reply by DrWhams on February 25, 2013 at 9:24

There is so much misinformation here. The only reason that you have less of a risk getting malware on a mac is simply down to the economics: if only 8% of desktop machines are macs and 90% windows then if you're a malware author then it makes sense to target the majority. However, the tide is turning. As macs become more popular, the malware risk increases.  The fact that OSX is based on Unix is meaningless because most malware is based on exploits (which give you the keys to the kingdom) or trojans (where you give it permission to do what it likes).

Around 700,000 macs were infected with Flashback last year. That is not what I would describe as 'near freedom from viruses'.  Worst of all, most of these users would have no idea their machine was being used as part of an extortion botnet/hosting child porn/whatever because of their head-in-the-sand insistence that 'Macs don't get viruses'.  Hubris will be the downfall of the mac malware-deniers.

You are also wrong about security being 'bolted on' to Windows. Windows NT was written from the ground up to be a secure multi-user system (yes, using Unix principles).

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Permalink Reply by Marek on February 25, 2013 at 9:32

Hi Paul

I fully agree with you and I am pretty bored with discussion how UNIX is much better than DOS.

Windows system are much profitable target for malware authors. 12 to 1 bigger chances to earn some money. If you can earn 12 times more quite easily what would be your choice. 

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