Despite the diversification in security software titles, antivirus software on the Mac still flourishes, perhaps because many of the organizations that purchase it are legally or contractually obligated to protect computers from viruses, regardless of whether those computers are actually affected by them.

Many reasonable Mac users get by just fine without using security software, because a Mac on its own is relatively secure. A healthy skepticism and commonsense can guard against most Trojan horse and phishing attacks, and diligence in keeping systems up-to-date can go a long way toward keeping your Mac secure. While the emergence of Mac-specific threats has created quite a stir in recent months, scams that target Internet users’ financial data cause more lasting damage. Beginners who are unfamiliar with how a Mac ought to behave or how to conduct themselves safely on the Internet, stand to benefit the most from security software, while anyone who doesn’t want to spread Windows viruses should install and run free or commercial antivirus utilities. For more ways to protect your Mac.

Protect The Data on Your Notebook
Short of wrapping your notebook in razor wire, you can physically protect the data on your MacBook or MacBook Pro from being jacked along with your hardware in case of theft. The most direct way to keep thieves from getting into your system is to set a firmware password, which prevents someone from starting up your ’Book from a separate startup disk. If you’re running Mac OS 10.4 or later, grab your OS X install disc and look for Open Firmware Password inside /Applications/Utilities, then install it on your Mac and launch it. It’s also a good idea to disable automatic log-in. Go to System Preferences > Accounts and click Login Options. Click the lock and enter your administrator user name and password. In the top right, next to Automatic Login, select Disabled from the drop-down menu. Now click the lock again so your change takes effect. Now OS X will prompt you to enter your password every time you start up your Mac.

Will the real Mac threats please stand up?
Daniel Adinolfi, senior security engineer for Cornell University’s information technology organization, lists these as the most dangerous security risks facing Mac users:

THREAT: A behavioral issue that Adinolfi calls “Clickitis,” which is simply the tendency to click on links even if we don’t know where they lead. “These links can direct the user to malware.” Since many Mac users often run OS X with administrator-level privileges, if the malware is downloaded and run accidentally, their systems can be compromised. 

SAFEGUARD: Users should be more suspicious of any URLs they receive. “Antivirus software can act 
as a safety net for accidental downloads, but antivirus software can be bypassed. Not allowing the malware to be downloaded in the first place is a better way to prevent compromise.

THREAT: Weak, easily guessed passwords. “An attacker can exploit this and gain access to the systems through AppleShare or ssh, for example, if those services are running. Since most Mac users run with administrator-level privileges, an account compromise leads immediately to a full-system compromise.

SAFEGUARD: A strong password includes upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. For example, rather than using the relatively weak password rooster92, a stronger variation would be Ro8oster92. But it’s not enough to replace all the E’s with 3’s or all the O’s with zeros. A password manager like Agile’s 1Password ($34.95, agilewebsolutions.com) offers automatic Web-form filling and strong password generation.

THREAT: Weak Mac OS X configurations. Services running on the Mac (such as Apache, WebDAV, sshd, and others) may be installed with default configurations that are vulnerable to attack, according to Adinolfi.

SAFEGUARD: “Users must ‘harden’ these services, which involves changing some of those defaults to more secure settings,” Adinolfi says. “Since many users do not fully understand these services, this configuration change rarely happens.”

THREAT: Loss or theft of the system. “People lose their laptops in airports daily. Household burglaries are always a problem. Businesses get broken into or have trespassers. Therefore, physical security should not be forgotten. If there is sensitive data on your computer, some form of encryption should be used (such as FileVault, encrypted volumes, or a third-party tool like PGP). Login should require a password, as should waking from sleep or from a screen saver. Also, regular backups help users recover from system loss.”

SAFEGUARD: To protect sensitive data, some form of encryption is in order, such as FileVault, encrypted volumes, or a third-party tool like PGP Whole Disk Encryption for Mac OS X (price TBD, www.pgp.com). You can also physically protect your MacBook or MacBook Pro from theft with cables, slash-proof bags, and other measures (for solutions, see “They Can Look, But They Can’t Touch,” p32, Jul/08).

THREAT: Unpatched OS and applications. “New vulnerabilities are discovered all the time,” Adinolfi says, but busy Mac users rarely keep up with them.

SAFEGUARD: Adhere to a “patching methodology, which may be as simple as having auto-updates turned on, ” Adinolfi advises.