The Practical Guide to Mac Security

The web is teeming with scams. Classified sites and shopping sites, while legitimate, may harbor malicious threats in the form of common cons and scams.

Other scams will use fake web ads and unsolicited phone calls to try to gain access to your Mac or online accounts. Learn how to recognize and avoid these scams.

Just because an email looks like it comes from a service you use, doesn’t mean that it is from that service. It is easy for email to be faked in order to get you to hand over your passwords and other personal information. Find out how to protect yourself from this very common scam security weak point.

If you are connecting to Wi-Fi away from home or work you should be using a VPN. This keeps your online transactions safe and secure from compromised Wi-Fi systems and on-the-air snooping.

Each person using a Mac should be logged into their own account. Doing so will protect you from security issues and make your Mac experience better. Anyone else you let use your Mac should be using a Guest account.

macOS will try to stop you from downloading and installing software that is not from the Mac App Store or has not been signed by registered developers. Learn how this protects you and how to get around the protection if you need to.

To keep your Mac free of malware you need to follow three simple rules: Don’t download software from sites you don’t trust, keep your Mac up-to-date, and stay informed. Find out how to follow these three rules and stick to them.

Experts and non-experts disagree on whether you need to buy anti-virus software for your Mac. But macOS already contains anti-virus protection that operates quietly and without any settings or controls. Often third-party “anti-virus” software is just a waste of money that causes more problems and should be avoided.

If you fail to use strong passwords and two-factor authentication and your accounts are hacked, find out what you should do first. It is important to act quickly to avoid more damage and identity theft.