Please Note: The following is not anywhere approaching an all encompassing Security strategy for you, your Mac or any part of your IT infrastructure, if you’d like a personal assessment, and actual setup for security protocols for your Mac, your families Macs, or your organizations Macs, please contact us at Auburncom. telephone 415*871*9683 to schedule a discussion.

Some Major Points:

Using the most recent version of released Apple Software is always a good idea for keeping your Mac secure. (Related: Always always do a backup of your system before updating)

Turning Auto Login off on your Desktops is a very good idea.

Turning Auto Login off on your laptops is essential.

Turning on “Ask for Password after computer goes to sleep or screensaveer” on your desktop or laptop is a really really good idea.

Turning Passcode lock on your iPhone/iPod is a very good idea.

Storing sensitive notes is best done inside the Secure Keychain, as opposed to your documents folder, stickies or any other clearly visilble location.

To learn more, follow this blog, or schedule some time with us!

iChat is an instant messenger created by Macintosh and based on AIM.  One of the options that iChat presents to the user is the ability to add buddies.  A user can do this by:1. Open iChat up.2. Select Buddies on the top toolbar and click Add Buddy.3. Enter in their screen name as well as what type it is (AIM or .Mac).4. Click Add and they will be entered as a buddy.

In the spirit of our usual high quality recommendations, comes another great recommendation for a piece of software that runs transparently in the background on your Mac.   

It’s a great Password Manager that will start remembering all your passwords and form information after a quick two minute setup, as if that wasn’t enough, it’ll generate ultra strong passwords with a single click if you need them for future accounts, want more? okay, it’ll easily create new fake personalities and profiles for using on sites that you are wary of, not sure if this video sharing site is the real deal or not, then let 1  Password generate your alter ego’s information for it’s registration form. 

So, enough said, it’s a great Password Vault and Manager with great back end security and plugs into all three of your favorite Mac browsers, Safari, Firefox and Camino, so, if in two months you switch to(or back to) Safari from Firefox (which has it’s own password manager) you’ll still have all your bank passwords and user profiles, indeed, in two years if you switch to camino, all your profiles will come with you.

Oh, did I mention that it syncs all these passwords to your iPhone… just not enough room on the page for how great 1 Password is… 

1Password is available from http://1passwd.com/  for $29.99 with 100% money back guarantee, or, you can get a free copy for a limited time through a Macworld promotion from http://agilewebsolutions.com/promo/macgems.

Either way, enjoy it, you’ll love having your computer enter your passwords for you, and of course, it’s fully controllable with super master passwords for safety!

P.S There’s a version for your Palm Treo too! 

With the proliferation of Text, Audio and Video Messaging using iChat, Aim, Skype or GTalk. Its very comforting to see that you can encrypt your conversations completely private using encryption.To do this, enable it in your preferences pane of iChat, you’ll need to have .mac to use this feature and thats on more great feature of the .mac service.