This week’s TidBITS has a number of items devoted to Mac security. The main one is a long article entitled “Computer Security: Who's Responsible?”. The article, by long-time Mac developer John O’Fallon (John’s company, Maxum, is one of the very few that developed Mac Internet software before Open Door Networks did) makes the point that, just as with our cars, it’s we ourselves who are mainly responsible for our own computer’s safety:

1. • The vast majority of [traffic] accidents can be attributed to drivers, other cars on the road, or conditions outside of anyone's control, not to fundamental flaws in the engineering of the cars.... most real-world security vulnerabilities could be addressed by users applying basic security measures.
   

The article goes on to a number of those basic security measures:

1. • Secure physical access to your computers and crucial network devices. The ultimate "denial of service" attack may just be someone walking in, unplugging your Mac, and stealing it.
   

2. • Assign passwords that are non-trivial and difficult to guess, without being hard to remember.
   

3. • Minimize the number of applications running, and use software only from trusted sources.
   

4. • Turn on and properly configure the firewall... It is shocking how much malicious traffic is on the Internet... your first defense against email harvesting robots, virus-spread port scanners, and worse is a properly deployed firewall.
   

In addition to John’s excellent article, TidBITS also just happens to feature coverage of Open Door’s recent announcement of major upgrades to our entire security product line. The coverage begins with the observation that “With all the recent fuss about security on the Mac, it's worth pointing out that we have plenty of tools to protect us from the most common Internet dangers.”

Finally, TidBITS leverages publicity around the recent Month of Apple Bugs project by announcing a “Month of Apple Sales” project for its “Take Control” eBook series, saying “We're tired of the childish ‘Hey, look at me while I break this!’ Month of Apple Bugs project, so here's a constructive alternative:”