WMB

Q: A whole bunch of FileVault questions

I say "whole bunch" because I suspect that that there are more implied questions here than I have the knowledge to pose directly. These are questions that occur to a non-technical, casual user. My hope is that, thoroughly answered, they will help many others better understand these systems and benefit from them. If the answers are in Mac Help or OS X User Guides, they are opaque to my reading.

 

I need more guidance and specifications as to the use of FileVault for a typical home desktop with one user.

For example:

1) Does FileVault make the contents of my hard drive unreadable to hackers who might gain access through malware?

2) If I'm logged into my computer, does FileVault protect the contents from people nearby who might have the expertise to break into my wireless account or over bluetooth or bluetooth devices?

3) Does FileVault make the contents of my drive unreadable to on-line back-up services such as CrashPlan? Will the encryption work the same from a back-up drive with a bootable copy of my hard drive made with software such as SuperDuper?

4) How does FileVault affect files such as Photos or those created with something like Pages when they are stored on iCloud?

5) Does FileVault have any effect on files and programs shared among my iMac, phone, and iPad?

 

I ask these questions because I would like to think that I could securely store a list of accounts with their passwords on my computer - not to mention other files that I would prefer to think of as secure - for easy access and editing, but I don't know enough about the security of my computer when it is connected to the internet, logged in/logged out, asleep or in use, etc, to proceed. So, I must continue to laboriously keep a long list of accounts and their passwords up-to-date on paper. When instructions and appropriate parameters are written for software such as FileVault, I need the authors to anticipate questions such as these from non-technical, casual users and provide more guidance. Thanks for listening.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), 2012 iMac

Posted on Apr 4, 2016 8:49 AM

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Q: A whole bunch of FileVault questions

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  • by chattphotos,Helpful

    chattphotos chattphotos Apr 4, 2016 12:06 PM in response to WMB
    Level 4 (2,442 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 4, 2016 12:06 PM in response to WMB

    1. Physical access, yes it is protected. Maybe on malware... I don't know how well it would hold up against Ransomware.

     

    2. Doesn't work like that... If your wifi is WPA2-AES encrypted with a long password (10 characters or more) you're pretty well off.
    Bluetooth/Wifi isn't some insecure leaky data pipe to the computer, it can be used to transfer files when configured properly, but the range is so short and bandwidth limited that it's not really an easy/fast way to hack into a computer. Turn it off if you don't use it, same goes for wifi, you can always use wired ethernet instead.

     

    3. I don't know, maybe? - contact Crashplan and see.

    4. I assume they are locally encrypted on the computer.
    5. Probably not, the Apple ecosystem works pretty well no matter what kind of encryption is running,

     

    To answer your question in full, all you really need a password manager - 1Password, KeyPass, Dashlane, IronKey, etc. do some research and see which one is best for you.

     

    As far as keeping your Mac secure, simple is best.

    Don't open attachments from unknown/unsolicited senders.

    Don't install MacKeeper (or anything else advertised as a speed up mac program)

    Don't fall for the ads or system support websites that say your computer has a virus, call 888-FixNow! (Tech support scammer)

  • by Duane,Solvedanswer

    Duane Duane Apr 4, 2016 10:40 AM in response to WMB
    Level 10 (124,018 points)
    Apr 4, 2016 10:40 AM in response to WMB

    WMB wrote:

     

    I say "whole bunch" because I suspect that that there are more implied questions here than I have the knowledge to pose directly. These are questions that occur to a non-technical, casual user. My hope is that, thoroughly answered, they will help many others better understand these systems and benefit from them. If the answers are in Mac Help or OS X User Guides, they are opaque to my reading.

     

    I need more guidance and specifications as to the use of FileVault for a typical home desktop with one user.

    For example:

    1) Does FileVault make the contents of my hard drive unreadable to hackers who might gain access through malware?

    FileVault encrypts your hard drive. Once a authorized user is logged in and the hard drive is unlocked, any and all software executing has access to items on the hard drive.

     

    2) If I'm logged into my computer, does FileVault protect the contents from people nearby who might have the expertise to break into my wireless account or over bluetooth or bluetooth devices?

    FileVault has nothing to do with wireless or bluetooth security. If an authorized user is logged in and they gain access to your Mac... they have access.

     

    3) Does FileVault make the contents of my drive unreadable to on-line back-up services such as CrashPlan?

    No. In order to make a backup an authorized user will need to log into your Mac and unlock the hard drive. Once the hard drive is unlocked, the data is not encrypted in any way.

     

    Will the encryption work the same from a back-up drive with a bootable copy of my hard drive made with software such as SuperDuper?

    No. The backup would not be encrypted.

     

    4) How does FileVault affect files such as Photos or those created with something like Pages when they are stored on iCloud?

    No effect. It doesn't affect the contents of iCloud.

     

    5) Does FileVault have any effect on files and programs shared among my iMac, phone, and iPad?

    The files on your phone and iPad are not encrypted.

  • by WMB,

    WMB WMB Apr 4, 2016 11:59 AM in response to Duane
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 4, 2016 11:59 AM in response to Duane

    I am grateful indeed for your thorough answers and hope that many others benefit.

  • by Esquared,

    Esquared Esquared Apr 4, 2016 12:10 PM in response to WMB
    Level 6 (8,491 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 4, 2016 12:10 PM in response to WMB

    If that list of accounts and passwords is your main concern, you could use a password management tool. The best know example would be 1Password, but there are many others. Alternatively, you can make an encrypted disk image and store your list there: How to create a password-protected (encrypted) disk image - Apple Support