Protecting Your Mac mini

For more information on the topics in this section, see Chapter 7.

How safe is the Mac mini?

As I write thisand for several years priorMacintosh security vendors have been selling software that prevents only nonexistent threats. And they've been charging a lot of money for it, too. On this basis, I'd say the Mac mini is very safe, but that will probably change someday, perhaps even between the time I write this book and the time you read it. So some degree of protection makes sense.

What should my security strategy be?

Even with the absence of threats, I cannot recommend running a Mac without antivirus software. But whichever product you find for the least money is probably the best choice. I use Virex, which is part of the .Mac service for the earlier Mac OS X 10.3 Panther operating system (Virex does not currently run on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger), and Norton security products on others. I hear good things about the Intego products as well, but don't have the many years' experience with them that I do with the others.

At the beginning of Chapter 7 are some quick-and-easy security tips. If you don't read any of the rest of that chapter, be sure to implement these suggestions. Some of them are very important.

What about phishing?

Phishing, which is the attempt to get someone's personal information (for identity theft) by sending a bogus e-mail claiming to be from a bank or other institution, is the most difficult security problem to handle. It's difficult for a computer to keep the unsuspecting from being swindled. But there will be improvements over time to ensure that mail really is from whomever it claims to be from and that Web sites really belong to their supposed owners.

Those of us who understand the phishing risk should warn our friends and family (especially seniors) to never give out personal information to someone who asks for it online.

How is most data lost?

Glad you asked. Most data isn't lost to external threats. It's lost because a file was accidentally erased or a hard drive crashed. For this reason, it's essential to back up the data stored on your hard drive.

My preferred solution is to use a backup program (such as .Mac's Backup or the lowest-end version of Retrospect) to back up onto an external hard drive connected to the Mac mini. Occasionally, I will make a DVD backup. And copies of my most important and/or commonly used files might be found on my online iDisk and an iPod or USB flash drive as well.