Shoring up your Mac’s Security in Yosemite

Anyone who’s used a Mac for any length of time knows that comfy, secure feeling you get when logging into OS X. It’s great. And best of all, it’s malware-free. Right?

Well, not exactly…

What Will You do for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month?

It’s often easy to overlook the importance of online security, but when you consider the cost of cybercrime is estimated between $24 billion and $120 billion each year in the US alone, it really puts things into perspective.

The National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) is an event backed by the Department of Homeland Security and is recognized every October. The cyber threats out there are very real, which is why NCSAM is now in its 10th consecutive year.

In the spirit of this initiative, here are 5 easy-to-implement tips to ensure your …

Behind the Scenes with Private Browsing

As the leading contenders in the web browser industry (such as Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox) began battling for the hearts and minds of the public, it was only a matter of time before they took advantage of the growing concern regarding online privacy. “Private browsing” was the solution that was offered to put our minds at ease.

This feature is known by different names depending on the browser you use, but whether it’s Incognito Mode, InPrivate Browsing, or Private Browsing Mode, we’re led to believe that we can …

PrivacyScan Publishes Infographic Explaining Net Cookies to Raise Awareness of Privacy Issues

For immediate release October 18, 2013

Summary: SecureMac continues its work to raise awareness of online privacy issues with the release of an internet cookie infographic. The aim is educate and dispel common misunderstandings about the nature of cookies and what they mean for consumer privacy.

SecureMac, creator of the critically acclaimed consumer privacy software, PrivacyScan, continues its initiative to raise awareness of online privacy issues with the release of an infographic to help people understand internet cookies.

The PrivacyScan cookie infographic aims to educate Internet surfers, allowing them to make more informed …

Understanding the Recipe of a Web Cookie

We’ve all heard the term ‘cookie’ used in the context of web browsers, and while we enjoy the warm, delicious connotation they bring to mind, do we really know what one is? How are cookies used by websites to provide customization and personalization? How are cookies used by third-party advertisers to track you across the internet?

Mobile Malware Infographic by SecureMac

We created an infographic to help show an assortment of statistics highlighting the changes in both mobile OS popularity and the malware that associated with each over the past three years. In addition, many different events occurred in 2012 that show the different ways in which Cyber Espionage has evolved through mobile. Kaspersky Labs provided some of the statistics and key information that make up this infographic. Their original article is a fantastic, but technical read that I suggest you check out here:

Infographic Security Products MacScan & PrivacyScan by SecureMac

Security New Year’s Resolution (2013)

5 Easy Tips to Keep Your Mac Secure in 2013 has been published and is now available for immediate implementation to help keep you secure this New Year! Which methods are you already using and how do you rank?

20+ Top Security Tips for Safe Computing Mac OS X – Mac OS X Trojan Horse

Mac OS X 10.7.3 (Lion) inherently contains many desired security features; however it takes a few moments for the user to enable most of them. It’s the ideology of convenience versus security and as it is well known Macs are quite convenient. This article will discuss how to further harden the Mac OS X environment and raise users up a few notches from the low-hanging fruit category.

General Security

Built-in – Using the operating system’s native toolset available for the user to configure and raise the security posture from its default ‘convenient’ …

MAC Defender (aka Mac Security, Mac Protector, Mac Guard, Mac Shield) Rogue Anti-Virus Analysis and Removal

Trojan Horse Alert: SecureMac has identified a new version of the previously identified MAC Defender malware. The new variant, just like the previously identified “Mac Security,” “Mac Protector,” and “Mac Guard” versions, is an updated version of the original malware, rebranded as “Mac Shield.”

Crypt for Mac OS X – Encrypting and Decrypting File with a Password of your choice.

What is Crypt for Mac OS X?

Crypt is a native MacOSX application for encrypting and decrypting files with a password of your choice. The cipher used is Blowfish. Blowfish is currently the fastest mainstream block cipher and is used in OpenSSH.

There are so many uses for encryption from securing resumes, office documents to photos. Remember when you use encryption like this you must remember your password, writing it down on a sticky note defeats the purpose of security!

Usage

If you can understand the concept of drag and drop you will easily …

Mac OS X Security Guide v.1 by Chevell – SecureMac

MAC OS X Security to the general Macintosh user has never been much of an issue. Turn it on, use it, turn it off when you’re done. And even if you’ve got a DSL or other dedicated line, warnings related to hack attempts on open and dedicated networks lines never seemed to instill fear in a Mac user. Sure there are products like Norton Personal Firewall or NetBarrier 2.0, but these are for professionals right? Well, not really. But the truth is, for the general Macintosh user, the chances of …