Reader H. Thomas Staton would like his laptop to be as untroubled as potential while he ’s on the road . He write :
There are a few touchstone you could take . Let ’s start with over - sharing .
By this I mean that if you do n’t want to supply people access to your Mac , you should shut any door that provide it . To set out , go toSystem Preferences > Sharingand sprain off any sharing pick you have enabled — file communion and projection screen communion , for exercise .
If you ’re concerned about an intruder taking an unfair share of your data , plough off share-out .
Although it does n’t put up a way into all of your clobber , you may also wish to plough off iTunes communion . On more than one affair I ’ve logged onto a hotel web , fired up iTunes , and find a load of shared iTunes libraries — some distinguish by the user ’s name . This can be particularly sticky when you cognise that person and their program library is full of 70s disco albums . ( That kind of insight , no one needs . ) To switch off sharing , open iTunes ’ preference , sink in the Sharing tabloid , and uncheckShare My Library On My Local internet .
Of course if you ’re really concerned , you could also turn off Wi - Fi entirely when you ’re not using it , which would certainly bar any attempts at your hooey when you ’re not watching your computer .
That ’s all well and good in respect to keep out intruders , but what about the data point you ’re sending over the internet ? If you ’re looking for that kind of protection , consider paying for a VPN ( Virtual Private web ) account . Log into a VPN and your datum is encrypted as it go by through a good tunnel , thus keeping the dear stuff out of the bad guy ’s batch . If you ’re interested in find out more , see Glenn Fleishman’sHow to surf safely with a VPN - for - hire .
Or you could forego this Wi - Fi link exclusively and or else use another hotspot . Your iPhone could be just the thing if you ’ve paid for a tether plan . Yosemite’sInstant Hotspotfeature makes this really easy . Your iPhone will look under the Mac ’s Wi - Fi menu if the headphone ’s run iOS 8 and you have a tether plan . Just choose it and you ’re good to go .
If you have a tethering plan , Yosemite , and iOS 8 , take advantage of Instant Hotspot .
And then there ’s the old - fashioned elbow room . Purchase aMiFi devicefrom just about any fluid carrier along with a data programme to feed it and you have a hotspot in your pocket .
Have a question of your own ? Drop a phone line tomac911@macworld.com .
