I have another article up on the world webs. This one is on cloud use in small businesses, with IT Business Edge. Check it out at http://www.itbusinessedge.com/slideshows/6-ways-small-businesses-can-master-the-cloud-in-2016-08.html.
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My 16 Mac Security Advances Article On TechCrunch
Ever since the kids from Silicon Valley went to TechCrunch, I’ve been thinking that at some point I’d want to put a piece there. Luckily, I recently got the chance. Today, 16 Apple Security Advances To Take Note Of In 2016 went up on TechCrunch. You can access the article here. The original article actually listed the year that each was introduced in order. It was a lot of work to go back in time and piece the timeline together, so since the years didn’t make it through editorial, I list them here (not that anyone actually cares): 2002: Managed Preferences 2003: FileVault 2004: Require all software installers that need system resources…
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IT Administrator’s Guide For OS X Now Available On Lynda.com
It can be tough to get information about larger Mac deployments. I’ve written a few books on it. Apple has built some pages on it. But many prefer to consume their content through video. As such, Sean Collins has teamed up with Lynda.com to put together an IT Administrator’s Guide for El Capitan. With topics ranging from SIP to DEP, and all the acronyms in the middle, Sean’s soothing voice will guide you through what you need to get started with a new Mac deployment. Many a job can seem daunting, but with this latest addition to our arsenal, you’ll instantly feel less intimidated. It’s like the Sun A of…
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My El Capitan Enterprise Mac Security Book Now Shipping
If you’re interested in Mac Security, the next edition of my Enterprise Mac Security book is now shipping. You can get it here http://www.amazon.com/Enterprise-Mac-Security-OS/dp/148421711X. The book is shipping from 3rd party sellers, but should ship directly from Amazon soon at the regular price. I don’t usually know exactly when, but it should also appear for Kindle and on the Apple Books store as well. Hope you enjoy!
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How I Remember David Bowie
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CBGB
We really just stopped for chips and a Coke (everything carbonated was a Coke to me back then, being from the South). At the cash register, we thought that a cassette by a band called The Sex Pistols was about the funniest thing you could buy. I think we were 13 or 14 years old at the time. It was Nevermind the Bollocks. We started a band that week. Eventually, we all kinda’ lost interest (there wasn’t a Jody, but if there was he would have quit and got married). I now have drums in the basement again. But it has been a very long time since I played with an actual band, and…
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Create Crypt Password Hashes
Linux and OS X come with the makekey command installed, usually in /usr/libexec/makekey. You can use this binary to create /etc/passwd file entries of hashed passwords. To use the command, simply pipe some text into the command. Here, we’ll echo testpassword into makekey: echo testpassword | /usr/libexec/makekey And we’ll get a simple output, such as: woNH11o4mqvAc There are certainly other ways to do something like this, but when writing a script you may use in either a Linux or OS X environment, this is one place where you should have a modicum of success crossing platforms.
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Securely Erase Freespace and Volumes In OS X Without Disk Utility
One of the options thats a tad bit hidden in OS X is the Secure Erase option, which runs a multi-pass erase on a volume. Additionally, there’s no option to Secure Erase free space on a volume. But you can still securely erase whatever you’d like (other than you boot volume obviously), when needed. To do so, use the diskutil command along with the secureErase option. The format of the command to secureErase freespace is: diskutil secureErase freespace [level] [device] The levels are as follows (per the man page as not all of these are specified in Disk Utility): Single-pass zero-fill erase Single-pass random-fill erase US DoD 7-pass secure erase…
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Disable .dsstore Files On USB Drives
Long ago, I did an article on disabling those pesky files that show up for Windows computers but not Macs on network volumes when you browse folders. These are metadata files and have a number of uses. But if you have a lot of files in a folder on a USB drive or if you move the USB drive to a Windows computer, you might not want .dsstore or metadata files on USB drives either. To disable, use the following command, which writes a DSDontWriteUSBStores boolean key into com.apple.desktopservices: defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteUSBStores -bool true
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Krypted Turns 11 Today
Yup. Somehow I have made it this long. 3,100 posts later, or .77 posts per day, I’m still with ya’. Not sure what the next 11 days will bring us, much less the next 11 years, but I’m honored that so many people visit the site, and I hope I give you cause to continue to do so in the future. At least the graphics are a little better these days… Thanks for stickin’ with me!