hello all.
for various reasons i believe a former co-worker may have comprimised my machine.
im running the latest version of OSX on a MBP.
i have the entire norton suite running(firewall, antivirus, etc..)
everytime i switch internet connections from home to office or anywhere, norton blocks a few processes. one of them is usr/sbin/racoon.
it sometimes blocks cupsd as well but it ONLY blocks racoon when i come to my office. should i be concerned?
im not a novice but i can pull up logs and furnish any type of outputs in terminal.
i can also provide screenshots.
appreciate the help in advance.
thanks
Yes, I know this is 6 years, after the fact, but, the 'root' of what you ask still remains (sadly).
First; Macs are
not/
do not run/work like PCs.
It's numbing to see how many people - who really have little, if
any experience with Macs (more-than-likely, they've '
experience' with PCs - and all the problems associated with them), and think; 'I
'll just poke around, and find 'something' amiss'.
W-R-O-N-G.
Macs
can take care of themselves.
Very rarely do you - a novice - need to root around.
So many …not very bright people - are constantly dong this, and (
much worse), utter berks give them '
advice' (and when they do, they
never mention that, they, as well, are
not Mac-experienced, not Mac experts - by far), and it's doing this, which leads to actual problems.
Second;related to the first, is -
unlike PC's, you don't need to run anti-malware, virus, etc., as long as you have a brain.
What do I mean by this?
The companies which make this garbage want you to shell out money, but, even some of the best companies, which do nothing else but scan the web for bad stuff (companies, such as Kapersky), will tell you that the current software approach - which is to ship out stuff, and then, update it, if something else has been found, is counter-productive, and will always be 'behind-the-8-ball'.
It's 'retro-active', not 'pro-active'.
Big difference.
Why?
Because, by this method, you're not protected from getting something, you're
only protected
after-the-fact.
I've owned (only) Macs since …well, a long time.
I've
never - ever had any
virus,
infection, etc. software on my machines, and I've never got
ANYthing.
By following
common sense.
I don't read e-mails, but, many people do. You
NEVER open
ANYthing sent to you, by someone you don't recognise,
nor should you open anything you weren't expecting.
(emails can be
spoofed, so something might appear to be from someone you know, but, it's not).
- You
never go to sites which don't have the little (green) lock icon.
- Download software
only from either the
App Store, or the company's website, and
NEVER from download sites, such as
CNet, Download.com, etc.
- Something
everyone should read regularly, is
The Safe Mac (available on Malware Bytes at
blog.malwarebytes.com). IT's a terrific, well-known blog, which stays on top of what's 'out there', regarding macs, and it's written by someone with much experience, and knowledge, but, in a way which is open to all - and he (Mr. Reed) wants you to feel comfortable, both with The Safe Mac, and your Mac.
-
Don't listen to '
advice' from someone who's
not either
professionally or,
expertly -
verifiably -
proficient with Macs (none of those idiots on Apple's forums should ever be listened to!)
Some things to remember; there've been VERY few VERY bad things on Macs. That's for several reasons, including the OS itself, and the stringent - built-in - protection each-and-every ma has, but, also for such reasons as it's more economically advantageous to target PCs.
The vast amount of bad stuff for macs, are things like
malware,
PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programmes),
Viruses, trojans, worms, spyware,
adware.
These programs may harass you, degrade your system’s performance and stability, and even get you to spend money on something that you didn’t really need, but by definition, they’re not doing anything outright malicious.
Things which come inside trojans include
Genieo, which is a PUP, that installs - and changes settings - of your browser.
There's the ever annoying
MacKeeper, which isn't bad - but, it's not good, not necessary. It's only purpose is for you to PAY for it.
Don't use (
torrent) downloads - not only because they can be rife with bad stuff, but - some of it (games, movies, etc) are there - posed by law enforcement types, who want to entrap you, and come after you legally.
A god thing - in fact, something which is now a necessity - is to use a
VPN (Virtual Private Network). Yes, there are free ones, but, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and in (at least) one case - that of
HOLA, it can be
VERY dangerous to use (if you currently, or formally have used HOLA, read this;
http://adios-hola.org/)
Personally, I use
ExpressVPN (no, I'm not an employee, just a highly cautious, security-minded person, and find them to be excellent. One other added benefit (of most of the top VPNs) is, once you join their service, you're able to secure not only your home computer, but, your portables - iPhones, iPads, as well as Android devices - all for a low, monthly price. Once you do this, you can walk down the street, like I - and know with confidence, no one - absolutely no one (not law enforcement, government, etc.) can 'tap' into you(r device, communications), you can use public WiFi, and know there's no chance your data's being compromised.
Your Mac is
the best-operating machine out there. Think of it as an
automobile. Many people drive them, but, not everyone's a mechanic, much less, a race car mechanic.
Use your mac propitiously - and it will serve you very well.
Just like you wouldn't take your car, and drive it off a cliff,
THINK, before you do something you're not familiar with.
If you
do run into a problem, get an
expert's opinion/help, and
not some anonymous idiot. You wouldn't turn your valuable car over to someone you don't know, don't know the rep of, so, why do people stupidly do as much with their computers?!?!?
Cheers, and all good wishes.
