Macpreneur

Mac Security Made Easy: Free Checklist to Protect Your Business & Boost Peace of Mind

• Damien Schreurs • Season 5 • Episode 99

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In this episode, you'll learn crucial Mac security best practices for solopreneurs.

I'll guide you through a step-by-step checklist covering the  pillars of security: confidentiality, integrity, and business continuity.

You can download the checklist for free via https://macpreneur.com/msc

All the links and video version available at https://macpreneur.com/episode99


Highlights:

  • [01:41] Understanding Cyber Threats and Starting Points
  • [02:42] Confidentiality Pillar
  • [07:41] Integrity Pillar
  • [18:01] Business Continuity Pillar
  • [26:08] Balancing Security and Productivity


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Mac Security Made Easy: Free Checklist to Protect Your Business & Boost Peace of Mind


Introduction to Mac Security for Solopreneurs

Today, we're diving into a crucial topic that every solopreneur needs to know: how to secure your Mac against cyber threats. Whether you're a consultant, coach, freelancer, or have any other online business, your Mac's security is vital for protecting your business and personal data.

Stay tuned, as I'm going to give you a simple, actionable checklist to follow that will significantly improve your Mac's security posture.

By the end of this episode, you will feel confident that your data is safe and secure.

I'll unpack all of this after the intro.


Welcome to the Macpreneur Podcast

Hello, hello, and welcome to episode 99 of the Macpreneur podcast. Whether it's your first time or you're a long-time listener, I appreciate that you carve out some time in your busy solopreneur schedule. I've created Macpreneur to help as many solopreneurs as possible save time and money running their businesses on their Macs.

Now, in order to give you the most relevant Mac productivity tips and information, I need to know how well you're currently dealing with the three killers of Mac productivity: namely, unnecessary clicks, repetitive typing, and file clutter.

For that, just visit macpreneur.com/tips and answer a few questions which will take you less than two minutes.

After submitting your answers, you will receive personalized time-saving tips based on your results.

Once again, visit macpreneur.com/tips and start boosting your efficiency today.


Understanding Cyber Threats and Starting Points

As solopreneurs, we know that protecting our Macs from cyber threats is important. But where do we start? 

The landscape of cyber threats can be overwhelming, and not knowing what steps to take can leave us vulnerable. 

That's why I've put together a simple yet effective checklist, covering the most important Mac security best practices. 

Today, I'll walk you through it, step by step, focusing on the three pillars of security: confidentiality, integrity, and business continuity. 

You can download this checklist for free at macpreneur.com/msc for Mac Security Checklist.

This fillable PDF offers 100 percent privacy and is written in plain English, avoiding technical jargon. 

In fact, if you are at your Mac right now, I suggest that you pause the episode, visit macpreneur.com/msc, then open the PDF in front of you so that you will be able to follow along.


Confidentiality Pillar

Okay, so let's start with the confidentiality pillar, which covers the protection of your user account, the internal storage of your Mac, and the minimum to prevent data breaches.


User Account Protection

When it comes to user account protection, the question is, why is it important? Well, protecting our user account is the first line of defense against threats posed by anyone who might have physical access to your Mac or would be near you when you use it.

The first checkbox is about the login password, making sure that your user account has a password that is at least 15 characters long and which combines digits, upper and lowercase letters, as well as symbols.

Why? Well, to prevent a brute force attack, meaning trying out the most commonly used passwords and to protect also against direct observation from anyone looking over your shoulder that could easily remember what you just typed.

And since Touch ID is available on all new MacBooks, as well as on the latest wireless keyboards from Apple, entering that long and complex password is only required when you reboot your Mac, or after 5 incorrect fingerprint attempts, or if you haven't unlocked your Mac for more than 48 hours.

Now, if your Mac doesn't have Touch ID, which is the case for my 2020 iMac, But, if you have an Apple Watch, then you can also configure the watch to unlock the Mac when you are nearby.

Checkbox number 2: Is automatic login disabled, meaning that when your Mac boots up, it will ask you to enter your user account password as opposed to automatically logging you in.

Checkbox number 3: the login password for your Mac user account is required as quickly as possible after sleep or when the screen saver starts or when the display turns off.

The time with which your login password is required depends on your environment.

So if you work from home or if your Mac is in an individual office with a door that you can lock when you're not there, the risk that someone would be able to roam inside your user account without needing to enter the password is relatively small.

The risk is never zero, obviously, especially if you have kids or if you have cleaning staff on a regular basis. So keep that in mind if you set a delay before requiring the user account login password.

If you travel often or if you work in a shared space, not only should you configure your Mac so that your user account password is required immediately.

But you also should learn to manually lock your Mac anytime you leave it unattended.


Internal storage protection

Next up, internal storage protection. Why is it important? Because even when the user account is well-protected, bad actors could still access your data if the internal drive is not encrypted.

So the next thing to check is whether FileVault is turned on or not.

And if it's not, to activate it, here is what you have to do. If your Mac is running macOS 12, Monterey or earlier, you open System Preferences, then visit Security & Privacy. There you will see FileVault. And for Macs running macOS 13, Ventura or later, you open System Settings, then you visit Privacy & Security, and then you scroll down to the Security section.

Please note that as soon as you turn on FileVault, it will ask you for your user account password as soon as you turn on your Mac.

So, without FileVault, you could turn on your Mac until you are on the login screen and then you enter your password. With FileVault on, it needs your password immediately.


Data Breach Prevention

Next up, data breach prevention. Why is it important? Because rogue or buggy applications running on your Mac could leak data if they have been given too many permissions, especially those that are not necessary for them to work properly.

And here, I have nine checkboxes that will help you determine whether access to contacts, Calendar, Photos, and various others has been selectively authorized.

What does it mean? It means that you should double-check that only what needs to have access to, say, your camera has been authorized, like Zoom, for instance, and that access has been blocked for other apps that might have requested it in the past.

To find out which applications are authorized to access the different categories of data that I talked about, if your Mac is running macOS 12 Monterey or earlier, you open System Preferences, then visit Security & Privacy, then Privacy.

For Macs running macOS 13 Ventura or later, open System Settings, then look at the top of the Privacy & Security pane.


Integrity Pillar

Now let's visit the Integrity pillar.

Here, the checklist will help you protect your operating system, also called macOS, and the applications that you have installed, your browsing sessions, how to reduce the risk of getting bitten by malware that would be missed by XProtect, and finally, how to protect your Mac when you connect it to any network.


macOS and applications protection

First up, macOS and apps protection. Why is it important? 

Well, keeping macOS and the applications downloaded from the Mac App Store up-to-date is important to prevent attacks leveraging known vulnerabilities. In this section, the first thing to check is if your Mac is running one of the three latest versions of macOS.

So at the time of recording, so May 2024, it's macOS 12 Monterey, 13 Ventura, and 14 Sonoma. 

But if you're listening or watching this episode in 2025 or beyond, you can check the updated list at macpreneur.com/macos. Supported macOS versions. Yes, I will put a link in the show notes. 

Now to see which version is currently running on your Mac, just click on the Apple menu in the top left corner, then on "About This Mac."

And if your Mac is still running an unsupported version, then either it's compatible with a supported version of macOS or it's not? And if it's not, then the best is to consider buying a new Mac. If your Mac is compatible with one of the supported versions, then before upgrading, make sure to check that all your business-critical applications and peripherals are supported by the version of macOS that you would like to upgrade to.

Being on one of the three latest versions of macOS is a good start. You also need to make sure that your computer installs the latest security updates in a timely fashion. 

One way would be to visit System Preferences or System Settings, then Software Update. Here, I strongly recommend staying on the supported version rather than upgrading to the latest one.

So if you're on macOS 12 Monterey, it's very easy. Under the banner that promotes the latest version of macOS, you will see a section entitled "Other updates are available," and underneath that, you will see "More Info." Click on that to see which security updates still need to be installed. 

Now, since the release of macOS 13 Ventura, Apple is prominently promoting the latest version of macOS in such a way that it's difficult to even realize that other updates are available.

To do so in Ventura, you need to scroll down to the bottom, and there you might see a section entitled "Also available," and under that, you will then see "More info..." 

I understand why Apple is doing that; however, as solopreneurs, we should avoid running the very latest version of macOS because it takes months before all the bugs are ironed out. 

In fact, there is, in my opinion, a Goldilocks version, and it's the one before the last, the middle one. And so, at the time of recording, it would be macOS 13 Ventura.

Why? Because it's much more stable and it supports the latest features in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, which the oldest supported version of macOS lacks.


Automatic checking, downloading and installation of updates

The next three items to verify are about the automatic checking, downloading, and installation of macOS updates.

The first two should be enabled, so automatically checking Apple's update servers and downloading macOS updates in the background.

For the automatic installation, it depends on whether your Mac is running the very latest version of macOS or not.

On the very latest version of macOS, I actually recommend turning off the automatic installation of the updates because you never know if an update might break something.

In fact, I recommend waiting at least a full week before installing a macOS update, just in case something catastrophic might have been missed during the beta testing phase.

For instance, back on December 11, 2023, Apple released macOS Sonoma 14.2, which broke screen sharing in such a way that even hidden windows would be showing up if you share your screen, which was obviously not good.

It took them eight days, so on December 19, 2023, for Apple to release a bug fix with Sonoma 14.2.1.

And so, if you were still on Ventura or Monterey, you would not have had this issue.


Mac App Store apps and XProtect automatic updates

Then, separate from macOS updates, there are some updates that apply to applications downloaded from the Mac App Store and also purely security-related updates, also known under the acronym SRS for security responses and system files.

In a previous episode, I mentioned that macOS ships with XProtect. It's a malware scanner and remover developed by Apple.

Well, the malware families that XProtect covers get updated in the background through this mechanism, which is independent from the typical updates that require a reboot of the machine. So XProtect gets updated, and you don't need to reboot the machine.


Browsing protection

Next up, browsing protection. Why is it important? Because while browsing the web, third-party content and scripts could compromise your Mac or induce you to click on unwanted banners, which is why it's best to block them.

How can you do that? Well, by installing and activating at least one content blocker in each of the web browsers that you use regularly. In addition to protecting your privacy and security, it can dramatically speed up the loading of web pages, and on MacBooks, content blockers help preserve battery life.

For Safari, I'm using Ka-Block!, available for free on the Mac App Store. It's both easy to use and fully respects our privacy since it doesn't need to scan any of the web pages that we visit. Ka-Block! only provides information about what to block and leverages a built-in feature of Safari.

On the flip side, it's so simple that there is no configuration, so we can't really fine-tune its content blocking, so it's either on or off.

However, if for some reason there is a problem with a specific website, then it's possible to tell Safari to turn off all content blockers for that website. For that, after visiting the website in question, you click on the Safari menu in the top left corner, then you click on Settings for, then the name of the website, and a floating panel will appear underneath the website URL, where you will be able to untick the option 'Enable Content Blockers'.

For other browsers, namely Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and any Chromium derivative, I am using uBlock Origin.

It's free and open source. However, unlike Ka-Block!, it needs to deeply scan the content of the webpages that you visit.

Having said that, the developer, Raymond Hill, has a very good reputation and he even refuses donations to protect his integrity.

Now, since it's open source, anyone can fork the project and as a consequence, there are a bunch of clones and copycats like uBlock without Origin or uBlock Pro.

So be careful, make sure that you install uBlock Origin.


Malware protection

Next up, malware protection. Why is it important?

In 2023, several malware have managed to bypass the built-in security mechanism of macOS, including XProtect.

And at the time of recording, XProtect can only recognize 23 Mac malware families, while in reality there are maybe three times more.

And as mentioned in the previous episode, the number of Mac-specific malware is alarmingly on the rise.

Therefore, you should install a third-party anti-malware tool to complement XProtect.

If you're still looking for a low-cost malware protection tool for your Mac, I wholeheartedly recommend you to consider Sophos, S O P H O S.

With a paid plan, you can protect up to 10 computers, Macs or PCs, and everything is configured through an intuitive web portal.

And if you have kids, you can easily configure some web browsing rules so that they won't be able to circumvent them.

You can try Sophos for free for 30 days using my affiliate link: macpreneur.com/sophos. Download and install Sophos. Then create an account. No credit card required.

And if you end up becoming a Sophos customer after using my affiliate, I'll get a small commission at no cost to you. It's like a virtual high five for recommending stuff that I love and that I use.

So thanks in advance for supporting me and the Macpreneur podcast.

Once again, visit macpreneur.com/sophos, S O P H O S to start your 30-day free trial today.


Network protection

Okay, next up, network protection. Why is it important? The purpose of the firewall is to block connection attempts from infected devices or from an attacker on the same network as your Mac.

The good news is that macOS comes with a built-in firewall. The bad news is that it's turned off by default.

And to find out whether the built-in firewall of macOS is turned on or to activate it, here is what to do.

For Macs running macOS 12 Monterey or earlier, you open System Preferences, then visit Security & Privacy, then Firewall.

And for Macs running macOS 13 Ventura or later, open System Settings, then visit Network, then Firewall.


Business Continuity Pillar

The last section of the checklist is Business Continuity. Here it covers data backups, the creation of a secondary user account, the importance of having a secondary Mac ready, and finally, backup power, whether through a spare power adapter for MacBook owners or the use of an uninterruptible power supply for Mac desktop and your internet router.


Time Machine Backups

So, Time Machine backups, why is it important?

Well, having automatic backups of your Mac is important in case something bad happens to it or you want to retrieve files that were deleted by mistake and are no longer in the trash.

Here, it's not enough to activate Time Machine; you also need to make sure that the data is encrypted on the backup disk, and the backups are done at least on a weekly basis.

So, for desktop Macs like the iMac, the Mac Mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro, it is best to leave the Time Machine Drive plugged in at all times.

And for MacBooks, the challenge is to remember to plug it in at least once a week. For that, create a weekly reminder or put a recurring event in your calendar to ensure that your precious data gets backed up regularly.

To find out whether Time Machine is activated, on a Mac running macOS 12 Monterey or earlier, open System Preferences, then visit Time Machine. For Macs running macOS 13 Ventura or later, open System Settings, then visit General, then Time Machine.

If you haven't configured Time Machine yet, I recommend purchasing an external hard drive with a capacity that is at least twice the size of your internal disk.

So, if your internal storage capacity is five hundred twelve gigabytes, then the Time Machine drive should be at least 1TB.

And if you can afford it, I'd recommend purchasing an SSD drive because it will be much quieter, and the transfer speed will be much higher than normal rotating hard drives.

Also, make sure that the external disk comes with the proper USB connectivity for your Mac, ideally offering both USB-A and USB-C cables so that you can reuse the same drive for a new machine, for instance.

I have a soft spot for portable SSD drives from a brand called Crucial, especially the X6, which is very compact and affordable.


Offsite backups

Next up, offsite backup. Well, you need more than a local backup because in case of fire, flood, or burglary, it's highly likely that you will lose both your Mac and the Time Machine backup drive at the same time.

Now, there are two main offsite backup strategies. Either you configure a second Time Machine backup drive that is stored in another physical location and you bring it back periodically to make new backups, or you could set up an automatic cloud backup system.

If you haven't put in place an offsite backup strategy yet, I recommend signing up for Backblaze, an extremely affordable cloud backup solution.

You can get unlimited storage for $99 per year. I'm storing more than 4TB worth of stuff for that price.

It's even possible to encrypt all the files with a password, preventing anyone, including Backblaze, from accessing the backed-up data.

And it's possible to enable one-year version history totally for free.

On top of that, you can choose the region where the cloud servers are located. For folks in Europe, it's in the Netherlands.

And to top it off, it's possible to access the backup data from an iPhone or an iPad with the Backblaze mobile application.

You can try Backblaze for free via my affiliate link: macpreneur.com/backblaze, no credit card required.

And if you end up becoming a Backblaze customer using my affiliate link, I will get a small commission at no cost to you.

Once again, visit macpreneur.com/backblaze to start your 15-day free trial today.


Secondary User Account

Next up, a secondary user account.

Why is it important? Because it can allow you to be operational even if your main user account is not. And by reducing the privileges of your main account, it drastically raises the bar for hackers and malware alike.

To find out about the user account situation on your Mac, open System Preferences or System Settings and then visit Users & Groups.


Secondary Mac

Next up, a secondary Mac will help you stay operational whether your primary Mac stops working, gets lost, or is stolen.

If you don't have a secondary Mac, I'd recommend two strategies to find one without breaking the bank.

Amazon will usually continue offering previous generation Macs as long as they have some stock left, unlike Apple.

You could also look for a refurbished Mac.

It's possible to find great deals in the refurbished section of the official Apple store, whether it's in the US, UK, or France, or by entering the search term "Renewed Mac" in the Amazon search box.

In both cases, prefer a Mac equipped with Apple Silicon, such as the M1, M2, or M3 chip, rather than an older Mac with an Intel-based processor.


Spare Power Adapter for MacBook

Next up, having a spare power adapter for your MacBook will allow you to charge it, even if the main adapter stops working, gets lost, or gets stolen.

If you have a MacBook Pro, make sure that the spare power adapter will provide enough wattage. So, 100 watts is okay for most MacBooks, except the 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2021 and later, which requires 140 watts. It's best to buy an original power adapter from Apple or choose a reputable brand like Amazon Basics or Ugreen.


Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

Finally, having two uninterruptible power supplies or UPSs, one for your desktop Mac and the other for an internet router, will allow you to continue working for a little while, even in the case of a power cut.

And if the UPS battery gets depleted before electricity gets restored, you will still be able to shut down your computer properly and avoid potentially losing data.

So, what is a UPS, or uninterruptible power supply? Well, it works like a traditional power supply in the sense that it's continuously plugged into the mains, but it contains a small battery that will start providing electricity when there is a power cut.

The amount of time that you will be able to continue using your Mac and have internet connectivity depends on how big the battery is and how much power is drawn by the equipment connected to it.

If you have a desktop Mac and only a couple of peripherals, then I recommend purchasing a UPS with a 1000 VA capacity.

If instead you have multiple displays and other peripherals, like a network switch, a network-attached storage, several large external hard drives plugged into domains next to your Mac, then you should opt for a UPS with a 1500 VA capacity minimum.

To protect a modem router and cordless phone, a UPS with 600 VA capacity is sufficient.

Now, the higher the capacity, the longer you will be able to maintain internet and Wi-Fi connectivity during a power cut.

In any case, prefer a UPS that also provides USB ports, so both type A and type C, so that you could charge smaller electronic devices if needed during the power cut.


Balancing Security and Productivity

Before concluding this episode, there's one more thing I'd like to mention.

There is always some tension between security and convenience, and finding the right balance is key when needing to both protect our business and be as productive as possible.

Some technologies allow us to achieve both at the same time, like Touch ID for instance.

However, sometimes we will need to sacrifice immediate productivity in favor of long-term, or as I call it, delayed productivity.


Recap and share.

So to recap, we covered what I consider the most basic Mac security best practices through the lens of the three pillars of security: confidentiality, integrity, and business continuity.

This episode was a doozy. However, I hope it has helped you better understand what needs to be done to reduce the risk of getting your business hacked.

As usual, things can only improve if you take action. And if you feel overwhelmed by everything that I covered today, relax, breathe, and go through the checklist one checkbox at a time.

If you haven't downloaded the checklist yet, remember to visit macpreneur.com/msc for the Mac Security checklist.

If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with a fellow solopreneur and DM me on Instagram. My handle is @macpreneurfm.


Next and outro

So that's it for today.

In the next episode, I will discuss how to spot signs that your Mac might be infected by malware or compromised, despite your security efforts.

So, make sure to subscribe or follow this podcast to get it automatically next week.

And until next time, I'm Damien Schreurs, wishing you a great day.

Thank you for listening to the Macpreneur Podcast. If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a review and share it with a friend right now.