What can be done to help prevent Malware? “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” ― Benjamin Franklin Malware on a Mac predominantly shows up on todays computers as either: 1)Trojans, a class of malware that take their name from the way they infect computers. Just like the classical story of the Trojan horse, Trojans hide themselves within seemingly harmless programs or try to trick you into installing them. 2) Adware, software that automatically displays or downloads advertising material (often unwanted) when a user is online. To keep your Mac safe from these outside infections there are two courses of action you can take 1. Treat the malware after it enters your Mac 2. Try to prevent malware from entering your computer in the first place.

This tutorial will show the basic steps, to take, to keep malware out.

Use Apples built in Security features Apple provides many security features in it's operating system such as: Updates to iOS which always include security updates Backing up your Mac using Time Machine Security & Privacy setting using GateKeeper Using a strong login password on you Mac especially on a Macbook that you take out of the house. 5. Make sure your home wifi network is secured with WPA2 Personal protected access 6. Use a password manager such as Apple's Keychain and have strong passwords 7. Strengthen Safari Preferences in Security. 1. 2. 3. 4.

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What can be done to help prevent Malware? Be aware of what you are doing! When surfing the web never click on pop up ads (this is where the adware hides). Never open suspicious emails or chain emails even from people you know. Only download programs from websites that you trust. Stay Informed. Be aware of new updates to your Mac and the programs you run on your Computer both Apple and third party and keep them updated. Below are the steps to help you keep maleware off the Mac.

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What can be done to help prevent Malware? Keeping your Mac Updated. To keep your Mac updated to the most recent update for your system 1. Click on the App Store App icon and click on Updates. Here you can down load the latest update for your Mac. 2. You should also go to System Preferences and click on App Store. Here you will get a dialog box that can help you keep your Mac up to date. 1. By checking Automatically check for update your Mac will look for these updates for you. 2. You now have a choice of what you want to be done with the new updates.

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What can be done to help prevent Malware? Backing Up with Time Machine Backing up your Mac is the number one thing to do to protect your data. It gives you peace of mind that if something happens to your Mac you can get all your information back. The easiest way to have this backup is with Time Machine, which is already installed. To use Time Machine you will need an external hard drive with a USB connection or an AirPort Time Capsule. To start backing up the Mac: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Plug in USB hard drive. Click  on the menu bar and then System Preferences. Click on Time Machine. Click on select disk and choose the USB drive. Time Machine is now automatically backing up you files.

For more info on this See: Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac

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What can be done to help prevent Malware? Security Using Gatekeeper To set up Gatekeeper so that you get warned when Applications that are not Apple approved are downloaded on your Mac, do the following: 1. Open System Preferences 2. Click Security & Privacy 3. Click on the radio button of your choice under Allow apps downloaded From:

For more information on Gatekeeper see: OS X About Gatekeeper

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What can be done to help prevent Malware? Setting up a login password A login password will not only protect your private info from prying eyes but also keep out the bad guys from adding some malware on the Mac as well as protecting your Mac if it is lost or stolen. If you need a new login password on your Mac, follow these steps. It’s important to change your login password from time to time to protect your privacy. If you’ve forgotten your login password you’ll need to reset it, see Reset a login password. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups. Click Change Password. Enter your current password in the “Old Password” field. Enter your new password in the “New Password” field, then enter it again in the Verify field. For help choosing a secure password, click the Key button next to the “New Password” field. Enter a hint to help you remember the password. The hint appears if you enter the wrong password three consecutive times, or if you click the question mark in the password field in the login window. Click Change Password.

If you would like information on how to create a secure password click here: OS X Tips for creating secure passwords

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What can be done to help prevent Malware? Securing your network with WPA2 Personal protected access To protect your home network, if you are using an AirPort time capsule, AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express, from the outside secure your network by setting up WPA2 Personal ( the most secure) by following these steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Open AirPort utility in the Utilities folder in Applications. Click on Airport Utility Click on the AirPort device you have Click on Edit Choose Wireless Select WPA2 Personal from the dropdown menu And input a Wireless pass word. Now click Update Click on continue so the utility adds the new security to the AirPort device.

For other routers see the owner's manual for adding WPA2 Personal.

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What can be done to help prevent Malware? Setting up Apple's iCloud Keychain To set up iCloud Keychain on your Mac 1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click iCloud. 2. Turn on Keychain, then follow the onscreen instructions.

Once keychain is turned on it will store all your passwords and fillins in Safari, credit card numbers and expiration dates as well as most wifi network names and passwords. NOTE: After passwords are in keychain if you go to a bogus website that asks for a password and keychain does't recognize that site it won't fill in the password and you will know that it is not the site you thought it was. For more info on Keychain click here: OS X Set up iCloud Keychain

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What can be done to help prevent Malware? Strengthen Safari Security 'Security Settings' is a general term for the rules your browser follows when deciding what it will allow websites to do. These are in place to prevent malicious sites from making changes to your Mac without your knowledge. To enhance the default settings you can choose stricter rules in Safari's Preferences pannel. To view these options open Safari > Preferences > and click on the Security lock. Here you can check Warn when visiting a fraudulent website.

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What can be done to help prevent Malware? Conclusion By following these steps your Mac will be very resistant to any outside attack and should be enough protection for most Mac Users. If you feel that you would be more comfortable with added security you can opt for a third party Malware app. There are several to choose from: There are a number of free anti-malware apps for Mac, including: • • • • •

• Avast Free Mac Security • Avira Free Mac Security • ClamXav • Comodo Antivirus for Mac • Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac

Paid anti-malware apps (which are likely to offer better support and more-frequent updates) include: • Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac • F-Secure Anti-Virus for Mac • IntegoVirusBarrier (part of various software suites, including Intego Mac Internet Security, Intego Mac Premium Bundle, and Intego Family Protector Secure) • Norton Security • Panda Antivirus for Mac

Be careful about other so called security software such as ‘Mackeeper” and research any product of this type before installing it on your Mac.

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What can be done to help prevent Malware? More information This is just a barebones tutorial on how to secure your Mac. If you would like to get more information about Mac security here are some sources used in preparing this tutorial. The Practical Guide to Mac Security Copyright 2015 Gary Rosenzweig. All Rights Reserved. May 2015 available in the iBooks Store $2.99 Take Control of Security for Mac Users "Copyright 2015 alt concepts inc. Joe Kissell. Published May 13, 2015 available from Take Control Books $15.00 OS X Security Page Apple Inc Yosemite Security

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