Check your Mac’s security

Safe as a Mac

Mac computers benefit from a combination of good basic security and a relative lack of targetted threats when compared with Windows- based computers.  There are two common ways to improve the standard level of security: activate the in-built firewall; install an antivirus package.

Antivirus

Turning firstly to anti-virus, this remains optional but it seems likely that this will change shortly.  While this unfortunately entails an impact on your Mac’s performance, you may prefer this to the alternative potential.

Current antivirus packages for your mac include:

Firewall

Your OS X mac includes a built-in firewall but it is turned off by default.  Turning it on is simply a matter of visiting System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Firewall.  For most users it is worth visiting the “Firewall Options” buttons on this page and selecting “Block all incoming connections”.