jamesgbeaumont
Level 1 (4 points)
Desktops

Q: What is the security risk of using OS X 10.7 Lion?

My main iMac (late 2009 27" iMac) is running OS X 10.9 Mavericks, but I kept my old one (late 2006 17" iMac) as a backup and for occassional use - it is running OS X 10.7 Lion and cannot be upgraded to Mountain Lion or Mavericks.

 

In searching the web, I cannot find a statement from Apple as to whether they continue to patch vulnerabilities in Lion, and if so for how long they will continue to do so.

 

Both machines are perfectly usable, and have no performance issues - so I have no reason to replace either of them.

 

Is it safe to continue using the older mac, especially on the internet, with applications like Safari and iCloud?

 

Many thanks.


iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jan 13, 2014 4:37 AM

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jamesgbeaumont

Q: What is the security risk of using OS X 10.7 Lion?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by a brody,Helpful

    a brody a brody Jan 13, 2014 4:54 AM in response to jamesgbeaumont
    Level 9 (66,882 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Jan 13, 2014 4:54 AM in response to jamesgbeaumont

    Most certainly.  The highest risk comes from Java and Flash.  The best way to deal with those are to update your

     

    Java from http://www.java.com/ and Flash from http://www.adobe.com/

     

    Close any windows that popup suggesting you should update anything, and do not update anything without going directly to the source.

     

    Do not use peer2peer software.

     

    Do not open attachments from unknown sources that are Mac based.   

    .exe files will not impact Macs.

     

    And above all, backup your data frequently:

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1992

  • by varjak paw,Helpful

    varjak paw varjak paw Jan 13, 2014 8:10 AM in response to jamesgbeaumont
    Level 10 (169,883 points)
    Jan 13, 2014 8:10 AM in response to jamesgbeaumont

    Apple has never to my recollection provided a definitive statement as to when they will discontinue security updates for any given version of Mac OS X. They just stop. They're still providing at least some security updates for 10.6.8:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

     

    so Lion should be good for a while, but for how long no one here can say. Even so, though, the number of actual exploits of Mac OS X, not just theoretical, has been very low and all I am aware of are trojan-horse programs, so even without security patches Mac OS X should still remain reasonably secure.

     

    This page may also be a valuable resource:

     

    https://ssl.apple.com/support/security/

     

    Regards.