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How to Use TOR on iPhone and iPad with Onion Browser

Aug 12, 2017 - 13 Comments
Tor for iPhone

TOR is a relay network which aims to increase your online privacy by attempting to anonymize web browsing activity. This is achieved by distributing your traffic across a series of TOR servers, which obfuscates your IP behind those Tor servers. While TOR is typically used on the desktop – you can read about using TOR … Read More

How to Reveal Hidden Message Previews with Touch ID on iPhone Lock Screen

May 23, 2017 - 8 Comments
The locked screen shows a hidden message preview on iOS

The iPhone defaults to showing message previews on the lock screen of iOS, revealing the sender name and message content text. Because of potential privacy ramifications, many users turn off message previews on the lock screen which hides the message content, but then to read the full message users have to go to the Message … Read More

How to Check XProtect Version in Mac OS

May 1, 2017 - 16 Comments
Check XProtect Version on Mac

Need to know what version of Gatekeeper and Xprotect are installed on a Mac? You can find this information through the command line of Mac OS. GateKeeper, MRT (Malware Removal Tool), and XProtect are all built-in features of Mac OS designed to prevent malware threats and other nefarious software from being installed or used on … Read More

How to Disable Webcam / FaceTime Camera on Mac Completely

Mar 1, 2017 - 37 Comments
How to disable Mac camera completely

Some of the more privacy conscious Mac users out there might put tape over their webcam or use apps like Oversight to detect camera activity. While either of those approaches can be satisfactory for many users (or considered totally paranoid and overboard to others), many advanced Mac users in the security community go a step … Read More

Detect Webcam & Microphone Activity on Mac with Oversight

Feb 21, 2017 - 13 Comments
Detect camera and microphone access on Mac

Though Mac users don’t usually have to worry excessively about “camfecting” malware and spyware, some security conscious users may find it nice to know if a process or application is attempting to access their computers web camera or microphone. With the help of a free third party security utility called Oversight, you can have your … Read More

How to Download a File from a Server with SSH / SCP

Nov 7, 2016 - 4 Comments
Terminal in macOS

Users can securely download a file from any remote server with SSH by using the scp tool at the command line. Essentially this means you can have a file stored securely on a remote server and transfer it to local storage without having to expose that file to the outside world, because scp offers the … Read More

How to Decrypt External Drives on Mac

Oct 25, 2016 - 12 Comments
How to Turn Off Encryption on External Drive on Mac to decrypt

For Mac users who encrypt external hard drives and USB flash drives, there may come a time when you want to remove the password protection and decrypt the external device. Decrypting an external drive allows all data on the drive to be accessed without the password authentication, effectively turning off any protection on the target … Read More

How to Allow Apps from Anywhere in macOS Gatekeeper (Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, Sierra, High Sierra)

Sep 27, 2016 - 88 Comments
Allow apps from anywhere in Gatekeeper for macOS

Gatekeeper in MacOS is now stricter than ever, defaulting to only allow options for apps downloaded from either the App Store or the App Store and identified developers. Advanced Mac users may wish to allow a third option, which is the ability to open and allow apps downloaded from anywhere in macOS Ventura, macOS Monterey, … Read More

How to Open .pkg Files to View What Will Install on Mac with Suspicious Package

Aug 31, 2016 - 5 Comments
Suspicious Package Quick Look view to open PKG file

Many Mac applications and downloads arrive as a PKG package file, but have you ever wanted to open a PKG file to view exactly what is being installed and where it’s going from the source .pkg? Assuming you get a .pkg installer from a trusted source like Apple there is generally nothing to be concerned … Read More

How to Turn Off Two-Factor Authentication for Apple ID

Aug 17, 2016 - 130 Comments
Disable Two Factor Authentication for Apple ID

Some users may benefit from enabling Two-Factor Authentication with Apple ID to further protect and secure their devices and data, but sometimes people decide two-factor auth is too much of a hassle and want to disable the feature.

8 Simple iPhone Security Tips

Jun 30, 2016 - 20 Comments
iPhone security tips

An iPhone contains huge amounts of detailed personal information about the owner, including emails, contact lists, banking information, personal notes, pictures, and much more, all of which most users want to keep private and secure. Fortunately the iPhone makes having a secured device pretty user friendly, and even novice users can take a few fairly … Read More

How to Disable Touch ID on iPhone & iPad

Jun 9, 2016 - 10 Comments
Disable Touch ID on iPhone and iPad

Touch ID is an undeniably convenient feature of the iPhone and iPad, allowing quick access to the device simply by placing a registered finger on the Touch ID sensor, which reads the fingerprint to gain access. While Touch ID is useful, some users may later decide they want to disable the feature on their iPhone … Read More

How to Setup 2-Factor Authentication on Apple ID for Extra Security

May 30, 2016 - 8 Comments
Two factor authentication for Apple ID

This guide will walk through setting up two-factor authentication for an Apple ID. Two-factor authentication requires that whenever a user is logging in to an Apple ID from a new untrusted device, not only must the proper password be entered but a secondary security ID code must be entered as well, which is typically delivered … Read More

How to Show Password Hints at Login in Mac OS X

May 18, 2016 - 6 Comments
Hide password hint in Mac OS X login screen

Assuming you use FileVault or don’t have automatic login enabled on a Mac, anytime the computer is rebooted you will be presented with a login and password screen. For users who change their passwords often, or who are just on the forgetful side of things, a helpful trick can be to display password hints at … Read More

Disabling FileVault to Decrypt Mac Hard Disks

May 10, 2016 - 6 Comments
Disable FileVault Disk Encryption on a Mac and decrypt the drive

While enabling and using FileVault disk encryption is highly recommended for security-conscious Mac users with modern hardware and SSD volumes, some users may decide they do not need to use FileVault for a variety of reasons, or perhaps they just want to disable it for another purpose. That’s what we’re going to demonstrate here, disabling … Read More

How to Change Sudo Password Timeout in Mac OS X

May 5, 2016 - 1 Comment
Change the sudo timeout

Advanced users who spend a fair amount of time in the command line may wish to adjust their sudo password expiration to be more secure (or less secure, by extending the password grace period timeout). Typically this means removing any password timeout so that the default five minute password cache is abandoned, thus requiring the … Read More

How to Secure Erase Free Space on Mac Drives with OS X El Capitan

Apr 28, 2016 - 20 Comments
Erase free space on a Mac drive from the command line

Many Mac users running a modern version of OS X El Capitan have noticed the Secure Erase Free Space feature has gone missing from Disk Utility. What the “Erase Free Space” feature did (and still does in prior versions of Mac OS X) was overwrite the free space on a drive to prevent file recovery, … Read More

Use the Free VPN in Opera Browser for Improved Privacy & to Access Regional Content

Apr 23, 2016 - 30 Comments

Opera, the alternative web browser, now includes a free VPN service, which is built directly into the web browser itself. The free VPN allows you to hide your IP address, access region restricted content or blocked content by bypassing a firewall or regional restraints, hide browsing activity from other users on the same local network, … Read More

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