Apple released this week a long and exhaustive Leopard Security Configuration Guide consisting of recommended practices and tips on keeping your Macs, well, secure.
Strictly hardcore, it’s meant for the upper echelon of Mac geeks who are comfortable with Terminal and can understand the arcana of things like sandboxing, library randomization and modules with two-factor authentication systems.
I don’t think I’d try to try anything in it by myself, but it’s nice to know I have a copy. It’s like a rare library book from Hogwarts, and would be perfect if Harry was a Mac fanboy as well. Needless to say, tinkering with these spells is not recommended for ordinary wizards, not unless you know what you’re doing.
It’s a 3.4mb PDF download and you can get it here if you want to take a peek.
A quick look at the Table Of Contents after the jump:
Chapter 1, “Introduction to Mac OS X Security Architecture,” explains the infrastructure of Mac OS X. It also discusses the layers of security in Mac OS X.
Chapter 2, “Installing Mac OS X,” describes how to securely install Mac OS X. The chapter also discusses how to securely install software updates and explains permissions and how to repair them.
Chapter 3, “Protecting System Hardware,” explains how to physically protect your hardware from attacks. This chapter also tells you how to secure settings that affect users of the computer.
Chapter 4, “Securing Global System Settings,” describes how to secure global system settings such as firmware and Mac OS X startup. There is also information on setting up system logs to monitor system activity.
Chapter 5, “Securing Accounts,” describes the types of user accounts and how to securely configure an account. This includes securing the system administrator account, using Open Directory, and using strong authentication.
Chapter 6, “Securing System Preferences,” describes recommended settings to secure Mac OS X system preferences.
Chapter 7, “Securing Data and Using Encryption,” describes how to encrypt data and how to use Secure Erase to verify that old data is completely removed.
Chapter 8, “Securing System Swap and Hibernation Storage,” describes how to secure your system swap and hibernation space of sensitive information.
Chapter 9, “Avoiding Multiple Simultaneous Account Access,” describes how to avoid fast user switching and local account access to the computer.
Chapter 10, “Ensuring Data Integrity with Backups,” describes the Time Machine architecture and how to securely backup and restore your computer and data.
Chapter 11, “Information Assurance with Applications,” describes how to protect your data while using Apple applications.
Chapter 12, “Information Assurance with Services,” describes how to secure your computer services. It also describes how to protect the computer by securely configuring services. “
Gulp.
[via The Apple Core/ZD Net]
