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Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

#61
Hardening macOS https://blog.bejarano.io/hardening-macos.html

Guide to Securing Apple OS X 10.10 Systems for IT Professionals: A NIST Security Configuration Checklist https://www.nist.gov/publications/guide-securing-apple-os-x-...

Securing macOS in 2018 https://www.davd.eu/securing-macos/

Free OS X Security Tools https://objective-see.com/products.html

Lynis - Security auditing tool for Linux, macOS, and UNIX-based systems https://github.com/CISOfy/lynis

Re: Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

#62
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add to this: the shortcut key for locking the screen is Cmd+Ctrl+Q. There's also the possibility of configuring a Hot Corner for this.

I use Ctrl+Shift+Esc to put my screen to sleep (which locks it).

Whoops. I never actually look at the keyboard (too late to edit my comment). It's Ctrl+Shift+Power

Re: Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

#63
I am a security professional and have thorough knowledge of macOS internals and the built-in security protections.

Almost all antivirus or security products on the Mac App Store should be treated with extreme skepticism. I recently saw that one of the top grossing apps was an antivirus product called Thor Antivirus. Looking under the hood, it was just ClamAV, and their claims about its protections were unsubstantiated. They probably made tens of thousands of dollars before Apple took them down in response to my report.

Several years before that, I audited SecureMac's MacScan[0], a once-popular antivirus app that had received accolades from MacWorld for years. It turns out it just checked file metadata such as modification times, and didn't even look inside.

Apple's app reviewers are not able identify bogus security products, and the result is that you might damage your system by allowing some half-baked program to run amok.

I don't run any third-party antivirus myself, but when I was investigating a piece of Mac malware, I discovered that Malwarebytes had beat me to the punch and published a great blog post on their investigation. I vaguely recall using their software to clean up a relative's Mac successfully.

By the way, at the time of writing, a program called Antivirus Zap - Virus & Aware is #6 on the Top Paid list of the Mac App Store. Antivirus VirusKiller is #41. I guarantee you they're both shit. (Antivirus Zap also uses ClamAV.)

0: https://web.archive.org/web/20110719013009/http://rgov.org/2...

Re: Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

#64
Anti virus - Sophos home Free & according to me the only real antivirus Little snitch is excellent for severing unintended network connections Search engine - startpage.com. This one has been excellent as I get privacy + search results same as Google I use adguard... Very effective. Dns 1.1.1.1 from cloud flare

Re: Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

#65
As others have mentioned, Little Snitch + Block Block is a powerful combination that lets you (1) see what is phoning home, and (2) know what crap apps are installing in the background.

I like to set up a lock screen message with your name/phone. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203580. Not "security" per say, but can help get your computer back to you if stolen.

Set a firmware password to prevent your mac from being reformatted: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204455

If you're using Filevault, you may want to ensure you are not backing up your recovery key to iCloud. There's a terminal command (I think) to discover if it is.

You should also go in and show hidden files. In terminal: "defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles true"

Re: Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

#66
post #9

Full disk encryption, that's it. When I get up, I lock the screen.

To add to this: the shortcut key for locking the screen is Cmd+Ctrl+Q. There's also the possibility of configuring a Hot Corner for this.

I’ve been using hot corners for approximately 5 years I think. It works very well.

Just configure the top right corner to lock the computer (AFAIK it’s new in Mojave) or start the screensaver with an n-second delay for password prompt (configured separately under the screensaver tab). The delay is important because you will trigger it by mistake many times. The new lock option does not have a delay, which makes it a little less convenient.

Re: Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

#67
saaspass.com for 2FA on MAC OS

SAASPASS Authenticator for regular 2FA

SAASPASS Browser extension for autofill of 2FA Authenticator codes

SAASPASS Password Manager for websites

https://saaspass.com/download/apple-mac-two-factor-authentic...

And here:

https://saaspass.com/downloads/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qkf9VraKuDU

Re: Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

#68
post #50

it doesn't matter what you do, Apple harvest and share your data.. My recommendation stay offline as much as you can.

Do you have any evidence that Apple harvests data stored on Macs and shares it with third parties? If so, that would be big news given Apple's stance on security and privacy.

Re: Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

#69
post #44

My primary concern is someone physically stealing my Macbook or iMac. They are personal devices and the content on them would not be much of interest to others, foreign governments or other entities. I have Prey[1] installed. On both devices, I have "admin" credentials taped to the back. The account is actually a locked down user-level account with very little authority, other than being able to get on wifi/browse th…

Your comment reminded me of this: DEF CON 18 - Zoz - Pwned By The Owner: What Happens When You Steal A Hacker's Computer: https://youtu.be/Jwpg-AwJ0Jc

This is wonderful.

Re: Ask HN: How do you secure your Mac?

#70

I try to use Touch ID for everything it can be used for. Touch ID for sudo http://osxdaily.com/2017/11/22/use-touch-id-sudo-mac/ Touch ID for SSH https://github.com/sekey/sekey (uses secure enclave) I use this for 2FA https://krypt.co/ (uses secure enclave on your phone) Touch ID for password management https://1password.com/ I upload dotfiles and other credentials in a keybase encrypted repo

do laptops without touchid have secure enclave(or a way to access it)?
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