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Important questions about file sharing

Hello!


I have two questions about file sharing as I have no experience with it.


1. if I enable file sharing (in System settings->General->Sharing), can anyone connected to the same wifi access my Mac without a password? Or does the person need the username and password of a user that is in "Users & Groups" on my Mac to access?


2. when I share a folder, I see the access rights next to it. Can someone explain me what is the difference between "staff" and "everyone"? Does "staff" mean every user on my Mac and "everyone" mean every user on my Mac including the guest user?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 13.2

Posted on Feb 19, 2023 10:01 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 19, 2023 10:21 AM

ChatGPT says


To question 1 :

"Enabling file sharing in System Preferences on a Mac allows other devices on the same network to access your shared folders and files. By default, file sharing requires a username and password for authentication, so other devices will not be able to access your Mac without a valid username and password.

However, it's important to note that if you have configured your sharing options to allow "guest access" or have created a user account with a blank password, then it is possible for someone on the same network to access your Mac without a password.

To ensure that your Mac is secure, it's recommended that you set up a password for all user accounts on your Mac and disable guest access for file sharing. Additionally, you can further enhance security by configuring your network settings to require a password for connecting to the Wi-Fi network, using a firewall, and regularly installing software updates to fix any security vulnerabilities."


To question 2 :

"On a Mac computer, "staff" and "everyone" are two types of user groups that can be used to define permissions and access levels for files and folders.

"Staff" refers to a group of users who have administrative privileges on the computer. By default, this group includes all user accounts that are set up as administrators. Members of the "staff" group have access to all files and folders on the computer, and they can perform tasks such as installing software and making system-level changes.

"On the other hand, "everyone" is a user group that includes all user accounts on the computer, regardless of their level of access. By default, members of the "everyone" group have read-only access to most files and folders on the computer, meaning they can view the contents of the files and folders but cannot make changes or delete them.

In general, it is important to use the appropriate user groups when setting permissions on files and folders to ensure that only authorized users have access to sensitive information and system-level settings."

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11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 19, 2023 10:21 AM in response to Two96Beers

ChatGPT says


To question 1 :

"Enabling file sharing in System Preferences on a Mac allows other devices on the same network to access your shared folders and files. By default, file sharing requires a username and password for authentication, so other devices will not be able to access your Mac without a valid username and password.

However, it's important to note that if you have configured your sharing options to allow "guest access" or have created a user account with a blank password, then it is possible for someone on the same network to access your Mac without a password.

To ensure that your Mac is secure, it's recommended that you set up a password for all user accounts on your Mac and disable guest access for file sharing. Additionally, you can further enhance security by configuring your network settings to require a password for connecting to the Wi-Fi network, using a firewall, and regularly installing software updates to fix any security vulnerabilities."


To question 2 :

"On a Mac computer, "staff" and "everyone" are two types of user groups that can be used to define permissions and access levels for files and folders.

"Staff" refers to a group of users who have administrative privileges on the computer. By default, this group includes all user accounts that are set up as administrators. Members of the "staff" group have access to all files and folders on the computer, and they can perform tasks such as installing software and making system-level changes.

"On the other hand, "everyone" is a user group that includes all user accounts on the computer, regardless of their level of access. By default, members of the "everyone" group have read-only access to most files and folders on the computer, meaning they can view the contents of the files and folders but cannot make changes or delete them.

In general, it is important to use the appropriate user groups when setting permissions on files and folders to ensure that only authorized users have access to sensitive information and system-level settings."

Feb 20, 2023 12:57 PM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you again! Just to make sure that I have understood all this correctly now (because I have only been dealing with this topic for a short time):


  • So other devices on the same WiFi can only access my Mac if they log in with the credentials of a user that is on my Mac under System Settings->Users & Groups?


  • And as long as on my Mac under System Settings->Users & Groups the option "allow guest users to connect to shared folders" is disabled for the guest user, I can use file sharing without fear of unwanted access (open access)?

Feb 20, 2023 9:39 AM in response to Two96Beers

Two96Beers wrote:

I have two questions about file sharing as I have no experience with it.

1. if I enable file sharing (in System settings->General->Sharing), can anyone connected to the same wifi access my Mac without a password? Or does the person need the username and password of a user that is in "Users & Groups" on my Mac to access?


The user needs to be authenticated to the share, unless the share is configured for open access.


Open access allows any devices and any people with network access to access the share.


When you create a share, you can select individuals or groups to have access—those folks will have to log in to the Mac (or equivalent login) to access the file share and its contents—or you can select wider access by granting read or write access to Everyone.


2. when I share a folder, I see the access rights next to it. Can someone explain me what is the difference between "staff" and "everyone"? Does "staff" mean every user on my Mac and "everyone" mean every user on my Mac including the guest user?


macOS uses Staff as the name of a group of users, and it's the default group for users not associated with some other group. Some users can be members of the staff group, and some others not.


Everyone is all users and all groups on the Mac, including all of staff, and is the local security equivalent of a share with open access.





ChatGPT text is right until it's wrong, and is a statistical prediction of the next words in the reply based on the question and the previous words and based on the contents of its corpus, and a generated response can be either right or wrong. Quite possibly even both right and wrong, depending on the context. It's a glorified form of autocomplete, albeit autocomplete with far too much hype.

Feb 20, 2023 10:31 AM in response to MrHoffman

MrHoffman wrote:


Two96Beers wrote:

I have two questions about file sharing as I have no experience with it.

1. if I enable file sharing (in System settings->General->Sharing), can anyone connected to the same wifi access my Mac without a password? Or does the person need the username and password of a user that is in "Users & Groups" on my Mac to access?

The user needs to be authenticated to the share, unless the share is configured for open access.

Open access allows any devices and any people with network access to access the share.

Thanks for your detailed answer. But what exactly do you mean by open access? Do you mean the guest access?


And is it true that other devices on the same WiFi can only access my Mac as a "guest" if the "allow guest users to connect to shared folders" option is enabled on my Mac under "Users & Groups" for the guest user?

Feb 20, 2023 12:03 PM in response to Two96Beers

Two96Beers wrote:

Thanks for your detailed answer. But what exactly do you mean by open access? Do you mean the guest access?


The Guest user is a user. If Guest is enabled and access to the share is granted, then yes, a user able to log in as guest will work. Guest is usually with no password, and usually also configured to purge the associated home directories on logout.


Open access is open to any, anywhere with network reachability, and without specification of credentials. Some file-sharing schemes refer to this access as "anonymous" access.


And is it true that other devices on the same WiFi can only access my Mac as a "guest" if the "allow guest users to connect to shared folders" option is enabled on my Mac under "Users & Groups" for the guest user?


A step back, here. Is there a reason why you even have the Guest user enabled? In most cases, disabling it is appropriate.


While there are some cases when you might want to allow unlimited access to a share to anyone on the connected networks, there are more cases where open access is undesirable and inappropriate.


And yes, the second part of that autocorrect response above is... unencumbered by concerns of correctness.

Important questions about file sharing

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