It’s your friendly neighborhood consultant and philosopher, Moses here. Today I bring you the news that nothing is safe. Ahem, what I mean is, securing your identity and personal data is difficult. Have no fear, there is a lot that you can do to rile against the ever-growing industry of malicious social engineering that has eroded our trust using network accounts and even just browsing the web. It’s no surprise some folks have machines they only use for network access that are completely separate from any media or documents. I hear stories just about every day of folks allowing “tech support representatives” full access to their machines via Remote Desktop, LogMeIn, GoToAssist and other screen sharing and remote access programs.
We have a service for AdWare removal service and that is the most surefire way to ensure your machine is not compromised and that it’s fully updated and secured with the built-in Firewall and even Apple’s FileVault encryption software. However, if you’d like to learn a few tricks for keeping AdWare and Malware at bay, here’s a rundown of what I usually do:
- Check Log-In items in Systems Preferences > Users and Groups
- If you have a solid state drive ( SSD ) you can enable FileVault encryption to secure all data on the machine without slowing it down. It’s the only way to protect data on the machine. Please do make sure you understand FileVault before you enable it.
- Remove any illegitimate LaunchDaemons and LaunchAgents in the library and System > Library folders.
- Reset browsing history, clear cash and cookies on all browsers installed on your computer.
- I recommend making sure your search engine is Google.
- Consider installing a program such as MalwareBytes to prevent the installation of malicious software.
- Lastly, make sure to always have a current back up and ensure you’re running the most current version of MacOS your machine can run. I strongly recommend running at least 10.11 El Capitan. Running out of date versions of the MacOS can make you more vulnerable to security breaches.
When it comes to network accounts like e-mail , cloud accounts, etc you can do the following to help keep those accounts secure:
- Use random passwords with a combination of uppercase, lowercase and numbers. Avoid using the same password on multiple accounts.
- Reset passwords often
- Use password management software such as LastPass or 1Password to keep all your passwords organized
- Set up 2-step verification whenever it’s available for an account. This is a must for many accounts and is one of the best lines of defense preventing unwanted access to your accounts. It does require a cell phone and text messaging capabilities for it to work.
Some tips for securing your home wireless network.
- Reset Wifi passwords regularly just like you would with your on-line accounts.
- Consider a hidden ( SSID ) network where you have to manually enter the name of the network and the password.
- Set up a guest network if your router supports it. This allows users to use your network without access to your devices.
These are some basic things to check, but you can certainly dig deeper and do even more to protect your devices from unwanted access. There are many layers of security and I’ve only brushed upon the topic in this article. Ensuring you use TouchID whenever available will also help to keep your devices more secure and as a bonus makes logging into sites significantly quicker. With older machines, FileVault is your best line of defense along with running a current version of MacOS like El Capitan or Sierra and changing passwords often. You do not need to live in fear while browsing or creating online accounts, but following some basic steps can go a long way to keeping your information and accounts secure.