Security Question and folder sharing in os x-newbie!

T

titcharoony

Registered
First of all, im new to this forum, so hello to everyone. Secondly Im a beginner when it comes to os x, but im not a beginner with computers in general, otherthough my knowledge is only slightly above basic.
Ok, question/query one

1) I have a standard mac pro, and was wondering what I could do within os x to set it up nice and secure within both my home network (spying family etc lol) and attacks from internet? Any suggestions considered to keep my computer nice and private.

2) Slightly leading on from this, I have just bought a new 1tb hard drive that houses all my movies. My bro in law wishes to share this over the wireless network. (He is waaaaay above average savvy with computers, uses ubuntu). How to I give him access to my 1tb harddrive (solely devoted to movies) so he can watch movies from that folder on his netbook - without exposing my computer one bit? Trust me, hes a bit of a spy when it comes to other peoples computer and although Ive nothing to hide I would just prefer to a) annoy him if he tries, and b) remain secure

Thankyou all, and happy to be here!
 
just to confirm, I want him to ONLY have access to that one harddrive and nothing else, with only the ability to read (or play) files, without leaving anything on there.
 
OK it will be simple. Just go to System Preferences->Sharing and sharing and turn it on and point the sharing to whom you want. Now if you are truly paranoid just download the free WaterRoof (if you are an expert about firewalls) or NoobProof (for the less then advanced) to use the built in BSD IPFW firewall (OS X is built upon BSD Unix) that is IMHO TEN times better (and free) then the OS X firewall dumbed down GUI.

Plus if you don't want to go through all the firewall stuff you could just put files you want to share in the folder /YourHardDrive/Users/Shared/ and share just that folder.

Now coming from Windows maybe you should get Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition. It will well worth it and is an easy read and a very funny but very informative at the same time.
 
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btw how does he now find my shared folder? or how would I access it say from... a windows computer next door or his linux eepc?
 
I don't use Linux right now, Nixgeek probably should tell you the Linux way to connecting. In Windows when on the same subnet just My Network places and follow your nose.
 
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And that I shall. :)

You mentioned that he's using Ubuntu. Ubuntu also runs something called Avahi, which does the same thing as Bon Jour in Mac OS X (basically, auto-discovery of hosts on the network). If all is working on his side, all he needs to do is access the "Network" option that's available on the GNOME menu (under "Places")in his Ubuntu installation and it should discover your Mac on the network automatically.

If not, then he can go to the "Places" menu I mentioned above and select to "Connect to server". From there, he can use either SSH or "Windows share" and access the Mac through its IP address on the network, provided that you have either Remote Sharing or Windows Sharing enabled on the Mac.
 
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thanks alot nixgeek. Sounds like all I have to do is specify which folder (or in this case hd) I wish to share within system preferences my end, open it up to sharing - and he can do the rest! Just to check, do I check both the 'file sharing' AND 'remote login' for him to access my hard drive? And would I be right in assuming that ONLY the folder I can see in 'shared folders' under sharing is the one he could access?
 
Remote login enables SSH, which also allows for the use of SCP (secure copy) filesharing, so yes enable that as well as the "file sharing" option (which would be for AppleTalk). There should also be an option for Windows filesharing as well (unless it's changed in Leopard, which I don't know since I'm still on Tiger).
 
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