The Mac Lawyer : Ben Stevens : Using Macs In The Practice Of Law

Reports have begun to surface that Apple may discontinue the Mac mini in the near future.  Both AppleInsider and Mac 360 published articles within the last week speculating that the end is near for the mini. 

• AppleInsider  ::  Closing the Book on Apple's Mac Mini, by Kasper Jade
• Mac 360  ::  Say It Ain't So: Apple To Drop The Mac Mini? by Ron McElfresh

Both articles list reasons to support their suspicion, but of course nothing official has been released by Apple on this possibility.  Our administrative assistants use Mac minis in our office, and we have found them to be excellent for this purpose.  The main draws for us were the features, price, size, and ability to use our existing monitors, keyboards, and mice.

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Everyone knows (or should know) that Macs are very secure and are the safest way to use the internet.  However, knowledge is power, and you should know as much as possible about ways to ensure that you stay secure.  Fortunately, there is a blog devoted to Mac internet security.  The Internet Security for Your Macintosh has published the following top 10 things you can do to keep your Macintosh safe on the Internet:

1. Physical security first. Although not strictly an Internet security issue, the odds of something bad happening to your Mac due to a physical problem are much higher than something happening to it over the Internet. So take precautions appropriate to your situation, such as physical lock-down cables, surge protectors and proper care of data on portable machines (such as encryption of any important files). And be sure to keep good, up-to-date local and remote backups.
2. "The only constant is change." Especially on the Internet. New security threats are discovered, temporary fixes and updates are issued, mistakes are sometimes made. It's important to keep up as best you can:
   • Subscribe to Apple's Software Update and install security fixes soon after they're available, although not necessary immediately.
   • Utilize online (for instance our blog isfym.com) and offline (for instance users' groups) sources to keep up with new security issues, implement temporary protection as needed, and make sure updates appear good.
   • Keep up on updates for any other popular applications you use, especially cross-platform ones like Microsoft products and security applications like your firewall and anti-virus applications.
   • And of course stay knowledgeable about everything you can, for instance through our "Internet Security for Your Macintosh" eBook.
3. Use a personal firewall. We sell one, so we're biased, but that doesn't mean we're wrong. You need a personal firewall on each of your machines, and the one Apple includes in Mac OS X is only sufficient for keeping you safe until you can get a better one. Be sure your firewall has logging fully enabled, and use a log analysis application to highlight issues that need to be addressed. And, no, the so-called firewall in any router you may have isn't good enough either (although it does help).
4. Use good passwords. Until the day we log into everything through retinal scans or other "biometric" means, passwords will be the main way we identify ourselves to Internet-based services. Use passwords appropriate to the importance of the service they're protecting, choosing longer, harder to guess (and more unique) passwords for the more critical services. Apple's password assistant, built into Keychain Access, can be a big help here.
5. Do not send confidential information by email, unless you know how to use encrypted email. Also treat all email messages received, even from people you know, as suspect. Same applies to IM (with certain exceptions like encrypted iChat). On the Web, be sure the Web page is a secure one (look for the lock icon) before entering confidential information.
6. Never open attachments in email messages, which are more often than not viruses. This advise may seem a bit over the top, but you should apply it as the general rule, with the only real exception being when you know the person who sent you the attachment and the context from the rest of the email makes it clear that that person really did intend to send you that attachment.
7. Never click on links sent in email messages. Again this is the general rule, with similar exceptions as with email attachments. These links are often to "phishing" Web sites that will attempt to steal personal information from you, or to "maliciously-crafted" Web sites that will attempt to do even worse things, like take over your machine (yes, even if you do use a Mac). Always type URLs directly into your Web browser, use known-good bookmarks, or click on links from reputable sites (including search engines) that you've gotten to through one of these methods.
8. Consider an anti-virus application. There are essentially no known Mac-specific viruses, and use of anti-virus applications can help keep it that way. Right now, anti-virus applications are essentially insurance policies, which you hope to never need to use, but are glad you have if you do. Also like insurance, you need to be sure to keep your anti-virus application, and its associated virus definitions, up to date.
9. If at all possible, do not provide any services from your Macintosh. In other words, all services in the Sharing pane of System Preferences should be off, along with other services like iTunes music sharing and iPhoto photo sharing. If you do need to offer services, use your personal firewall to restrict access to as few machines as possible (preferably just machines on your local network). And of course use good passwords for those services, in particular for the cross-platform Remote Login (ssh) service, which is often subject to dictionary attack.
10. Properly secure your wireless (AirPort) environment, both at home and on the road. At home the most important things are to change your wireless router's password and to use WPA encryption. Beyond that, don't allow your router to be administered over the Internet and add other security measures (like creating a closed network and limiting access by ID) if you feel comfortable configuring them. On the road, be sure to turn off or block any services your Mac is providing through your firewall, be cognizant of who's looking over your shoulder, use a VPN if you're talking back to your home or work network and watch our for rogue access points.
11. Bonus: Consider running your Mac as a non-administrative user most of the time. This is an advanced technique that provides few immediate benefits, but, similar to anti-virus applications, acts as "insurance" by limiting any damage that could result from a security breach. Someone gaining access to your machine would still have access to many of your files, but not to most of the underlying machine and OS itself. The easiest way to run as a non-admin user is to create a new, administrative account and then change your normally used account to a non-administrative one.

Source:  "The Top 10 Things You Can Do to Keep Your Macintosh Safe on the Internet" by Open Door Networks, published at the Internet Security for Your Macintosh blog.

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LifeHacker recently published a list of its top 10 favorite Mac OS X tweaks for making your Mac experience even more personalized, customized and convenient:

1. Add folders or drives to the Dock
2. Add Application shortcuts to Finder's toolbar
3. Set your default browser
4. Activate screen corners
5. Add the Path button to Finder's toolbar
6. Display folder and drive details
7. Remove Dashboard from the Dock
8. Enable the Tab key
9. Manage programs that start automatically
10. Assign custom hard drive icons

Source:  "Top 10 Mac OS X Tweaks" by Gina Trapani, published at LifeHacker.com.

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I am honored that two of my blogs, the South Carolina Family Law Blog and The Mac Lawyer, were jointly featured as the "Blawg of the Day" on Tom Mighell's Inter Alia blog a couple of weeks ago.  This was the second that my family law blog has been so featured, but the first for this blog.  Tom goes a great job with his blog in featuring different law related blogs each day, and I appreciate him bestowing this honor on these two blogs.

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AppleMatters recently published an article detailing the three primary ways of protecting your data: invisibility, passwords, and encryption. Each of these provides some security, but at much different levels.

• Invisibility:  If you make files or folders invisible, other users can't see them. This method is quick and easy.  However, this is the least secure method, as a skilled user can still find your files.  There are programs (such as HideOut and Secret Folder) to assist you if you want to use this method.

• Password and Encryption Options: 

Create an encrypted disk image with password protection
This method is free, relatively easy, and very secure.  To make a secure disk image, first open up Disk Utility and click on the New Image icon. Next, choose where you want it to be saved. This next part is very important: you must select the size you want your image to be -- too small and you will fill it up too quickly / too big and you will waste lots of space on your machine.  After deciding the size be sure to set the encryption to "AES-128" and you can leave the format as read/write. Finally, click create, enter the password, and you are done. Now you can copy your files/folders onto the image. When you're done, eject the image. From that point on, opening it will require the password.

Create a separate user account using FileVault for secure data
This method is secure, very easy, and free, but it requires lots of space, requires fast-user-switching to be turned on, and only works if you use the administrator password.  To use this method, you simply create a new user account and dump all of your secure files into it. To gain access to files from your "main" account, use fast-user-switching and the "shared" folder to swap files. Of course, this method requires all the overhead associated with creating a new user. And lest we forget, the system administrator would still have access to your files. But other than those slight problems it will work just fine.

Use iCrypt
This option isn't free and bugs can cause data loss, but it is very simple, very secure, and doesn't require lots of hard drive space.  iCrypt, a shareware program, does exactly what you expect and nothing more.  To use it, you open the program, set your preferences, and then drag-and-drop to encrypt files. The encrypted files are self-extracting, which means that you can encrypt the file, send it to someone else, and as long as that person has the password, the file will be decoded as it opens.

Source:  "Ways to Secure Files in OS X" by James R. Stoup, published at AppleMatters.

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BusinessWeek and the Boston Consulting Group conducted a study to find out which companies are the most innovative in the eyes of senior executives.  Guess which company topped the list -- Apple -- for the third year in a row!  The report says that it is "a master of superb product, store and experience design." 

Source:  "Most Innovative Companies", published at AOL.com.

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The upcoming (June 2007) print edition of Consumer Reports magazine gives high praise and high rankings to Macs in both the notebook and desktop categories.  Of course, this comes as no surprise to Mac users, but it's always nice to see objective rankings to back up what we already know.

The 15" MacBook Pro was the top-rated notebook in the workhorse models category, beating out 10 other portable models.  The 20" iMac desktop was ranked third overall and given "Quick Pick" designation in the workhorse models category.

Also, based on feedback given by over 77,000 Consumer Reports readers, Apple was the top ranked manufacturer.  Finally, Consumer Reports described Apple's Tech Support as "superior".  All of these are more objective reasons to consider making the move to a Mac.

Source:  "Consumer Reports June 2007: Apple Macs Rank High in Notebook and Desktop Categories" published at the Switch To A Mac blog.

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Earlier this week, Apple announced a whole new way to shop at your local Apple Store.  Personal Shopping is a free service where you and a dedicated Mac Specialist explore and test-drive products to find out which ones are best for you.  This service is free, and it affords you undivided attention, even in a busy store.

Source:  "Apple Unveils ProCare Changes; Project LaunchBox; iPhone Parts", published at AppleInsider.

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From this week's MacUser blog:

Joining the ranks of Parallels Desktop, VMWare Fusion and CrossOver is a new addition to the Mac virtualization market: VirtualBox. A few days ago, innotek released a Mac beta version of the software, in addition to its existing Windows and Linux editions.

What differentiates VirtualBox from its competitors is its price: $0 for personal use. Not only that, it's completely open-source. It runs various flavors of both Linux and Windows (including Vista). A few notable features include a modular design, Remote Desktop Protocol support, and shared folders. Overall, it sounds like VirtualBox is somewhat on the geeky side.

Judging by the lone Mac screenshot on VirtualBox's site, the product lacks Parallels Desktop's polish, but early user reports sent to MacWindows suggest the speed is impressive. There's price to pay for the "beta" label, though: among other things, expect USB support to be flaky.

Anyone want to try it out and report back? The beta is downloadable from VirtualBox's website.

Source:  "VirtualBox, Yet Another Virtualization Option" by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen, published at the MacUser blog.

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Today, Apple announced changes to its ProCare program.  As previously posted on this blog, this program provided personal training, priority repairs and service, and setup services -- all for $99 per year.

Now, the "old" ProCare has been split into two separate $99 packages.  In my opinion, these programs are still an excellent value, and I can understand to a degree why Apple split ProCare in two.  All good things must pass in time.  The two packages now available are:

• ProCare  ::  designed purely for service

ProCare membership starts with a complete setup of your Mac and includes premium benefits like same-day service at the Genius Bar, Rapid Repairs, yearly tune-ups, and more for up to three computers.

• One to One  ::  designed purely for Mac training

Personal training sessions are designed to move at your pace and provide the support and guidance you need, whether you're new to Mac or ready to master the latest pro software.

Source:  "Apple Unveils ProCare Changes; Project LaunchBox; iPhone Parts", published at AppleInsider.

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