Mac OS is a fairly secure operating system and we know of only a few general tips to make it more secure.
Install Anti-Virus Software (20 minutes)
Duke provides a site-license for the Virex anti-virus software (from McAfee) which allows all
students, faculty and staff to use it for FREE. Of course, anti-virus software is only
as good as the information it has, so make certain that you keep your DAT files up to date. Virex
can be configured to automatically check for new virus definitions, we strongly suggest configuring
it in this manner.
Set up Ownership Privileges (5 minutes)
Open the Sharing Setup control panel (in Mac OS 8, the File Sharing control panel)
and set an owner name, owner password and
computer name. The owner name is displayed as the computer name on the Appletalk Network.
Disable File Sharing (5 minutes)
Unless truely needed, File Sharing is probably a bad idea and should be disabled by going to
the Sharing Setup control panel and make certain that the File Sharing Button and
Program Linking Button are stopped (i.e. the button allows you to Start, indicating that the
services are currently stopped).
Software Update (ongoing)
The Macintosh operating system has an application called Software Update which will allow you
to easily keep the software secure and up to date.
When run, the program will look for any updates Apple has available. It will then give you a list
of them and offer to install the updates for you. The update system can be configured to run on
a schedule to automatically check for new updates on a regular basis. We suggest configring the
software on a nightly basis.