Password Protect a Folder / Security

[benos]

I'd like to PW protect a just a folder or maybe also a single Mac file. Long ago, a friend recommended PGP.

Any sort of advice will be appreciated.

be

[BritinUSA]

I just use the regular Vault option and protect everything. I think that when you create .pdf files you can save them with password protection but not sure if the Mac allows that for other file types.

[BritinUSA]

Or there's this --> Protecting Files

[outerlimits]

Or there's this --> Protecting Files

not so sure if you have the admin p/w, you could change that setting.

i use stuffit deluxe-it's free and encrypts and password protects files, folders, anything except primers.

Edited August 5, 2009 by outerlimits

[benos]

Thanks Paul.

I just use the regular Vault option and protect everything. I think that when you create .pdf files you can save them with password protection but not sure if the Mac allows that for other file types.

I've heard a few file vault horror stories, and experienced one myself with a friends Mac, so I plan to stay away from the Vault.

Or there's this --> Protecting Files

I bet that could be defeated by mounting the drive on a different drive with a Super Admin User.

Also, just for fun I tried it, and it isn't real user friendly. The folder I want to protect I'm in every day. When you are denied acces, since you don't get a PW prompt box then, the only way to get into the folder is to go through the whole Get Info/Click the Permissions routine.

I'm looking for something that will follow the folder wherever it is, and just prompt for a PW before it will open.

be

[benos]

I'm surprised there's not much response on this.

A bit more research on PGP:

Mac OS 10.4.10 and later: Intel platforms, all volumes

Mac OS 10.4 and later: Power PC platforms, non-system volumes only

... my machine is PowerPC, so I'm outta luck with it.

I was thinking... If I set all my Macs to require a PW on startup, and a machine is stolen, and the thief new the computer was used for business so ther's a high possibility of critical info on it and new that coming in, they'd probably have something in place to get the data off the disc even though it couldn't be booted normally.

So then the question becomes - if it was stolen would I cancel all my credit cards and change all my one zillion passwords on the assumption that the theif got them? Probably. So password protecting startup probably won't make me feel any safer in the end.

be

[D.Hayden]

Sorry - don't know macs.. Windows has encryption at the drive/dir/file level built in... so they show as 'green' when browsing.

Doesn't the MAC have something similar?

You're right about the drive, I'd just mount it as another drive, I'd have free access..

[Jadeslade]

PGP is good. You can put sensitive data in an email and send it encrypted to yourself. I password startup for casual prevention(friends, family, Fedex guy, maids) You can use a dongle and encrypt that. That is probably the most secure. It physically removes that data from your Mac. I'm using OS X 5.8, and Snow Leopard comes out next month. There are some built in security things like hiding files, password protecting files. If you like programming, you can poison a file with a wipe if the password is not entered correctly x times, or make a password that uses keystrokes-like spacebar, delete, etc so that it is difficult to crack. Fun.

[Jadeslade]

Oh, yeah. Vault can get messy and real time consuming.

[chefcs5]

Passwords are easy to break.. easier than you think.. If I had you mac in my house I could have all the saved info off of it in a 24hr peroid. I have had ppl bring me thier pc's and mac when someome like and ex or something has changed thier password. Usually I have gotten them everything back. And really if it is connected to the net if they really want your info they will get it. We have contests to hack a pc it has hardware and software firewall, antivirus and all that usually the contest is won in 72-96 hours and its always top of the line software.. Its just a fact that you data is not secure. I often changes passwords. I use a credit card that offers me a diffrent number for each online transaction.. I have good software and I have been hacked. They didnt get any personal info becaus eI saw it happening and unplugged and then fixed but it can happen. I say keep all your Valuble data on an external drive and only hook it up when needed and keep the drive in a secure place. but in the end if your a target and they are pros they Will get what they want.

[benos]

Thanks for the additional info.

If I could just PW protect a file or folder, that's all it might take to make me happier.

So maybe I'll go to Snow Leopard, once I try it on BigJoni's machine first.

be

[Jadeslade]

Password protect it and then hide it. You have to know the file name to show it, otherwise it is just not listed. You will like Snow Leopard and won't feel ripped off. Try the dongle for super security-I just got an 8GB one for less than 30.00. You can then hang it around your neck or whatever. Bye.

[benos]

Password protect it and then hide it. You have to know the file name to show it, otherwise it is just not listed. You will like Snow Leopard and won't feel ripped off. Try the dongle for super security-I just got an 8GB one for less than 30.00. You can then hang it around your neck or whatever. Bye.

Cool - thanks.

be

[BritinUSA]

I didn't think Snow Leopard was out yet, last I heard it was coming out at end of the month or beginning of September ?

[benos]

Well sadness. A little googling and I realized Snow Leopard is not compatible with a Power PC Mac, which is what I work on.

be

[BritinUSA]

Sounds like a great excuse for an upgrade...

[maineshootah]

Well sadness. A little googling and I realized Snow Leopard is not compatible with a Power PC Mac, which is what I work on.

be

Been using this solution for years.

Works easy... think pass phrase rather then password.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1578

or..

https://wiki.thayer.dartmouth.edu/display/c...pted+Disk+Image

or..

if you don't want to read.. and rather watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjB3w1mXaeQ

[Jadeslade]

Bummer. It is a big expense to upgrade. Rule of thumb used to be to leapfrog every other upgrade when MS was ruling the world. Now it is when you need to -like run out of disc space, even after you dump all the junk off your hard drive -you are still short.I went through all kinds of extra hard drives,linking computers, etc, but they all become messy and stop working at some crucial point-not reliable. Maineshootah has pointed out a couple good things. Essentially you are making a virtual disc( a software disc) and password protecting it. Kind of like partitioning in the old MS systems-remember how many times software would have to be reloaded? I do not miss those days. A dongle is an actual separate flash disc that can be physically removed from the computer and is a common methodology to prevent hacking. I use Logic Pro and it comes with its own password dongle-program will not work without it plugged in to USB port. You can not access it if it is not there(it is around your neck or in your car or wherever)-so the method that Maineshootah pointed out will work with it with a Power PC Mac. I would plan to upgrade a PowerPC Mac sometime over the next year-Apple seems to drop backward compatibility (more or less) about every three years. They say they don't, but it happens. I am on my 7th Mac in 9 years. Data heavy work. They all still work, but are essentially separate entities. I do not do server stuff, but I have and my hat is off to you-very labor intensive. A new iMac with good memory and storage and basic software is about 2500 now. A MacPro is probably going to be anywhere from 5-10,000 depending on what you need. I still like my little 13" MacBook (999 and a PowerePC) that I still travel with and watch all you supershooters on DVD the night before matches to get my game on. Good luck.

[benos]

Sounds like a great excuse for an upgrade...

That was my first thought. Bur I'm happy with my machine at the moment. It's pretty snappy and hardly ever glitches. (10.4.11 / 4 x 2.5 GHz Power PC G5 / 2.5 GB SDRAM. I think it was the last quad processer made before intel.)

Well sadness. A little googling and I realized Snow Leopard is not compatible with a Power PC Mac, which is what I work on.

be

Been using this solution for years.

Works easy... think pass phrase rather then password.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1578

Reading that (the wiki one wouldn't load) it looks like I'm making a password protected image of my drive (or maybe just folders I select - I didn't try it.) If that's true, what I'd like to do is just PW protect a folder in my drive. So that you have to enter the PW to open the folder, even if that folder (my drive) is mounted on someone else's computer.

Thanks for the help everyone.

be

[benos]

Solution (learned from a HATE thread on Passwords):

Brian, Keychain lets you store passwords for anything you want, not just applications and web-pages. It's under the Applications/Utilities folder...

That's awesome - thanks Paul!

I never launched that app. Just let it do whatever it wanted to whenever it asked.

Launched it, and noticed there was a tab for "Secure Notes." So I pasted my PW TextEdit doc into a new Secure Note, named and saved it. Now to launch that Secure Note you have to enter owner's PW. Which is exactly what I was hoping to do with this thread.

be

[XRe]

Cool use for it

[sierra77mk]

Or there's this --> Protecting Files

Or there's this --> Protecting Files

not so sure if you have the admin p/w, you could change that setting.

i use stuffit deluxe-it's free and encrypts and password protects files, folders, anything except primers.

I just came upon a need to do this and I will use the ehow suggestion for now but I have a folder with 4 files I want to password protect, and possibly add files into this folder. I think Stuff-it would be a good for this but I have not used it since OS9. If I recall it added a menu function to password protect and or encrypt.

I do not think the deluxe version is free. Last I knew, a 3 license package was available for $50.00

[niker]

for password protection usually I use Logon Sentry ( www.protemac.com )

[benos]

On this:

I was thinking... If I set all my Macs to require a PW on startup, and a machine is stolen, and the thief new the computer was used for business so ther's a high possibility of critical info on it and new that coming in, they'd probably have something in place to get the data off the disc even though it couldn't be booted normally.

So then the question becomes - if it was stolen would I cancel all my credit cards and change all my one zillion passwords on the assumption that the theif got them? Probably. So password protecting startup probably won't make me feel any safer in the end.

be

About 6 months ago, I spent a Saturday changing all my bank, ISP, Merchant Account, etc. sites to a super secure PW I can remember, so now I don't have to have them in my computers.

Then I had BigJoni go through the last 4 years of orders in Spreadsheets, that may or may not have credit card info in them, and delete all the card info.

I can't tell you how happy I was that I did that when my work laptop was stolen.

be

[niker]

for as for me I use Protemac logon Sentry ( www.protemac.com ) for monitoring password protected folders , anybody heard about it?