Keeping your information secure from prying eyes.
This Tech Tip is a cautionary tale. As a general rule, I recommend that you avoid installing apps that claim to tune-up or optimize your Mac. Last week, I worked on two Macs whose performance was negatively impacted by MacKeeper, MacBooster and TuneUpMyMac. A third Mac’s web browsing had been hijacked by Conduit Search. It’s not clear … Read more
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that is much less well-known than Google, but you should check it out. As the title of this article indicates, DuckDuckGo is a privacy-friendly alternative to Google.
Read moreIn last week’s Tech Tip, I provided an overview of a few ways a person can remotely access their own Mac, including LogMeIn. I tend to use LogMeIn to provide my clients with remote support. If you’d like to set up your Mac to allow me to remotely control it, please follow these instructions for downloading and installing … Read more
Do you want to remotely access your Mac so you can open applications and edit files on it? This is an increasingly common request. Here’s a quick overview of a few ways to remotely access your Mac.
Read moreWould you like to improve the security of your online accounts such as your AppleID, Gmail, FaceBook, PayPal and Dropbox accounts? If so, you should consider turning on two-step authentication for these accounts. Two-step authentication is also called two-factor authentication. Typically, two-factor authentication requires you to enter your password as well as a code sent … Read more
Would you like to secure your Internet connection when you’re using a public wireless network at a hotel, coffee shop or airport? If so, you should consider using a personal VPN service like Cloak or TunnelBear.
Read moreDo you have children? Would you like to configure your home network to easily block adult content? Here’s an easy and affordable way to set up adult content filtering for all Macs, PCs, iPhones and iPads on your network. Sign-up for the free OpenDNS Home service.
Read moreDisable Java web browser plug-in in Safari, Chrome or Firefox on your Mac. Don’t be confused with Javascript. It’s okay to use Java-based applications.
Read moreMake your passwords longer and more complex and make a written list to track your passwords. Or, use a password manager or an encrypted disk image to store your passwords.
Read moreDo you use your laptop on public wireless (wi-fi) networks? Do you own a business and want to give remote staff a way to securely connect to your office network? If so, then you should know about VPNs.
Read moreWhile viruses are not a major risk for Mac users, it’s still prudent to have an anti-virus application installed on your Mac. Sophos offers a free Macintosh anti-virus application for use on home computers. Give it a try.
Read moreThe purpose of this article is to help you assess the strength and security of your password and to encourage you to start using more secure passwords. As a consequence of the fact that we all need to keep track of many passwords, many people use just one or two passwords over and over again. … Read more
Here’s an easy way to determine the default password for many routers. You might need to know your router’s default password if you forget or don’t have a record of your router’s current password or if you end up resetting the router to its factory defaults.
Read moreHere are instructions on how to use Disk Utility to securely erase a hard drive connected internally or externally to your Mac. These instructions were written for Mac OS X 10.4 to 10.6. The process is very similar on older versions of Mac OS X, but the screens will look a bit different.
Read moreYou can use these instructions to retrieve any saved password from your keychain, such as the password to your wireless network. The keychain is a secure place to store passwords.
Read moreDid you know that you can remotely find and/or erase your iPhone? You can if you have a free AppleID account, have signed into iCloud and have enabled the Find My iPhone feature.
Read moreI recommend that every iPhone owner enable the password protection feature built into the iPhone. Then, if you ever lose your iPhone others won’t be able to view your iPhone’s contents or run up your bill by placing lots of calls.
Read moreThis post builds upon the information that I presented in my last blog entry about how to securely store personal information on your Mac. A disk image is a special kind of file. When a disk image file is opened, it makes the computer think that an actual disk, like a CD, has been physically … Read more
Do you have personal or sensitive information about yourself or your clients on your Mac? Things such as credit card numbers or passwords? If so, I recommend storing this information in a special kind of file known as an encrypted disk image. I store a list of my own passwords and other sensitive information in … Read more