If I hear about one more OS X “Virus”, “Trojan”, “Worm” or “Hack” I swear I’m going to SCREAM!!!

From exploiting ancient vulnerabilities that had been resolved ages before it became an issue, to writing a shell script and tricking people to run it, and my all time favorite - “hacking” into a Mac OS X box (by getting the owner to give you SSH access, opening ports and disabling the firewall)…

All of this is FUD and people wanting their 15 seconds of fame, and it is making me lose my temper!

Either show me an outbreak or SHUT THE FUD UP!!!

All these people screaming “the sky is falling” simply want to instill fear, uncertainty and doubt into would-be and newbie Mac owners. But the fact of the matter is that Mac OS X is one of the safest operating systems out there, and thousands of times safer than Microsoft’s Windows OSs.

Any computer can be secure or vulnerable depending on the actions of the owner.

Here are some tips to be safe - no mater what operating system you use.

Don’ts

x Do NOT use a “root” or “administrator” account for normal use!
When configuring your computer, setup an admin account 1st with a good password, then add your user account(s) as regular users.

x Do NOT give strangers an account on your computer.

x Do NOT open ports unless you know exactly what you are doing!

x Do NOT give out your password!

x Do NOT use Microsoft products! Even if you are on a Mac - Microsoft Macro Viruses still run on Microsoft Products.

x Do NOT blindly enter your password to any dialog box without paying attention to what is asking for it and why.

If something you downloaded unexpectedly asks you for your or an admin account - PAY ATTENTION to what it is and why it’s asking for it. If you only expected to see some pictures and you got an authentication prompt - that should tell you something is horribly wrong with it!

Dos

o DO get a router (hardware firewall) if you have High-Speed Internet, even if you only have 1 computer.

o DO keep up to date with software updates! Don’t ignore them! They are there for a reason!

o DO keep backups! Get an external drive and backup your files to it. It’s not hard and you will be glad you did when your hard drive fails (and it WILL, eventually) or if you ignored everything I just said and give your password to an unknown script that erases your hard drive.