I'm trying to do a better job of securing my data, while still maintaining some semblance of convenience.

For example, I am trying to put all important financial and related information behind the electronic locks of 1password. That seems to work - and is not too annoying.

I was going to go ahead and Filevault my main Mac, until I learned that basically you lose the functionality of Time Machine. You have to be logged out as the user for Time Machine to work. That's a deal-breaker.

So I've been looking into adding a firmware password. I've been trying to find good descriptions on the web, but I've not seen anything that seems like a consensus and accurate document.

I will note that the one funny irony is that perhaps the best way to get around firmware passwords (at least historically on older Macs) was to remove the battery or change RAM. As the machine I'm talking about has a glued-in battery and soldered RAM (a 15" MBPR), looks like that crappy design constraint is actually an advantage!

If you use firmware passwords, how do you like it? Any warnings?

If you choose not to use firmware passwords on your Macs, why not?

TIA!

Pulling RAM doesn't work on any post 2011 mac.

Sounds like a decent plan overall. I would never do FileVault - too much can go wrong.

I don't take my laptop out of the house often so it isn't firmware password protected.

Might I suggest:


Dont use unsecured wireless networks? Put all financial data on a thumb drive? Signup for lifelock?

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

I didn't know there was such a thing as a 'firmware password'. What does that do—lock out all users? Of course there are only two on my Macs: me, and my administrative alter ego.

I don't keep any credit-card numbers or any critical bank or personal information on my computers. Why would you? I'm not even happy that Amazon and Apple have credit-card numbers, but it seems unavoidable.

I'm thinking of One Password, though, as I'm constantly looking up passwords and getting them wrong. Does One Password sync between two computers (and an iPhone)? Or would you have to have two separate copies?

/Mr Lynn

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if you put an open firmware password on a Mac, it disables the ability to choose another boot volume, like an external drive or netboot, unless you type the O.F. password.

it's kind of a pain in the anus when you are doing repairs on several that a school has brought in. my diagnostics are on netboot and external USB drives.

have you considered creating an encrypted DMG (disk image file) with a password on it? you can store sensitive documents inside that without encrypting your entire hard drive.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2013 07:44PM by decay.

Quote
decay
if you put an open firmware password on a Mac, it disables the ability to choose another boot volume, like an external drive or netboot, unless you type the O.F. password.

it's kind of a pain in the anus when you are doing repairs on several that a school has brought in. my diagnostics are on netboot and external USB drives.

have you considered creating an encrypted DMG (disk image file) with a password on it? you can store sensitive documents inside that without encrypting your entire hard drive.

Thanks for the tips. I'm ok with the idea of having to type in a password to switch startup drives. I don't really do that much boot drive swapping.

I'm actually less worried about sensitive documents than about mischief.

Quote
mrlynn
I'm thinking of One Password, though, as I'm constantly looking up passwords and getting them wrong. Does One Password sync between two computers (and an iPhone)? Or would you have to have two separate copies?

/Mr Lynn

Yes, 1password syncs between my Mac and my iOS devices. Works well.

I thought that firmware passwords went the way of the dodo when the Mac startup sequence with the Forth script went away.

this explains the changes made in 2011

[reviews.cnet.com]

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Thanks!