Customer Reviews

Internet Security for Your Macintosh: A Guide for the Rest of Us

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Internet Security for the Macintosh - A Guide for the Rest of Us is I believe a "Must Have" Computer Manual, alongside David Pouges "Missing Manual" and Steve Schwartz "Internet Explorer for Macintosh" for every serious Mac Users reference library

The authors, Oppenheimer and Whittaker come impeccably credentialed and their expertise as filtered by joint authorship has clearly made use of their backgrounds with measured and pragmatic effective advice taking you carefully through security requirements from the bottom up. One undeniable advantage in this respect is that they also currently provide ISP services so they know what the real world is about and it shines through.

In addition the timing of the publication is excellent.

Whilst it is Mac specific it could well be considered an essential basic Internet Security Manual for PC Users as well.

The Manual of around 400 pages and 18 chapters is broken down into four sections 1. General Security Principles 2. Securing Internet Services 3. Enhancing Overall Security and 4. Advanced Topics.

The message comes through. If you don't get the basics right even if you apply the advanced advice there may be holes in your system (Microsoft where have we experienced this before!)

There are chapters on Viruses, Personal Firewalls, Home Networking, Securing Mac OS X and an intriguing - Just say no to FTP!

Here I believe in the one place is pragmatic and sensible advice which if followed will make your computer far less vulnerable to Villains, Hackers and Mischief Makers, particularly now that the migration to Cable, ADSL and other broadband DSL technologies leave us a lot more vulnerable than with dial up connections.

Peachpit Press has set up a website to facilitate feedback updates and more recent information for purchasers of the guide.

This book is just what it promises, "a guide for the rest of us." It explains how things work, clearly and in logical order, and is laid out so you can easily pick out the parts you need to read.
I used the book to set up a firewall. I had previously purchased a perfectly good one with simple controls, but had no idea what all the buttons meant in terms of blocking unwanted intrusions while retaining normal Internet access. (I'm an experienced Macintosh user, but naive about the underlying mechanisms of the Internet.)
Oppenheimer defines the underlying concepts and provides simple instructions, and with his book I was able to set up my computer security system in less than an hour.

At last..a timely and well written book that specifically details the essentials of Mac security...highly recommended

The book excellently and up-to-date describes the technical issues and is so well-written that we may read it and be glad we did, but it is also so nice and lacks an inspiring ending that we may not do much about Internet security for our Macintoshes once we have put the book down.