Very Important Question: How To Keep High Sierra Secure???

[mdgm]

I haven't read all the thread, but if you want to run Windows 10 on the 2011 Mac Mini if you have one with only the integrated graphics HD3000, I think that's not supported by Windows 10, so you'd need to find a way to use an eGPU to run Windows 10. The AMD Graphics in the Mini with the discrete GPU is supported by Windows 10 but that AMD GPU is known to have higher than normal failure rates.

I've just started booting my 2011 Mac Mini off a TB3 NVMe SSD and it's faster than an internal SATA III hdd would be. I intend to keep using this Mini for some time to come though I am hoping to find a bargain on a quad-core 2012 mini though that seems unlikely.

 

[Kent W]

High Sierra, just like previous MacOS versions slips behind for each MacOS security update that gets released by Apple for newer MacOS versions over time.

If you are stuck on High Sierra, evaluate your options. If you start to treat it as more of a hobby system, rather than your day-to-day driver I assume you may be fine avoiding any sensitive data handling or financial stuff, etc.

If there are no MacOS options available (no unofficial patching up to Catalina possible (or wanted) which actually have a non-metal graphics fall back solution that makes patching of older machines possible), then keep HS on one partition and install a supported system on the other partition like Linux or Windows 10 (yes maybe some tweeking, but it works).

Writing this from my own iMac 27 2011 on High Sierra that is not even supported for unofficial upgrade to Catalina due to the AMD GPU. Anyhow I keep HS and run Target Display Mode with it connecting it to a bit more modern Big Sur MBA as well as installed Windows 10 on an external Thunderbolt drive.

 

[BeautifulWoman_1984]

I'm now considering just running MacOS High Sierra on my Mac Mini mid2011.

It's been a while since I made this thread... Is there anything else I can do to keep my Mac Mini mid2011 running High Sierra 100% secure?

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Nope

 

[Juicy Box]

Is there anything else I can do to keep my Mac Mini mid2011 running High Sierra 100% secure?

There really isn't anything that can make any Mac 100% secure.


If security is such an important issue to you, I would consider upgrading to something more modern.

Otherwise, just using a web browser that is still being supported on your machine would greatly improve the security of your old machine.

Firefox is still getting updates for High Sierra, and probably will continue to get security updates for a few years.

 

[The Hammer]

Would the current version of Edge work with High Sierra?

 

[mattspace]

Does anyone have a source stating whether the recent Webkit vulnerability that was patched on Safari 14 was a Safari 14-specific issue, or is it a problem for Safari 13 as well?

While I'd rather not "upgrade" to Mojave, switching to Firefox on the Mac, means having to switch on iPad and iPhone as well, and then get a Firefox account for sync etc, and I REALLY don't want to have to deal with that (nor frankly do I want to deal with Firefox's neediness of constant connections to mozilla.org).

 

[mortlocli]

..just a suggestion as an alternative to FireFox. Ive been running Brave as my web browser on an Imac 10,1 with High sierra being its last (offical) OS. Might be worth a look..depending on your needs.

 

[Bodhitree]

I’ve been wondering about that as well, I have a 2011 MacBook Air and a 2011 iMac 21.5” that both run HS as the most up-to-date OS. Time to install a browser which still gets security support sometime soon I think, as both these machines sometimes work with sensitive sites.

 

[mattspace]

I’ve been wondering about that as well, I have a 2011 MacBook Air and a 2011 iMac 21.5” that both run HS as the most up-to-date OS. Time to install a browser which still gets security support sometime soon I think, as both these machines sometimes work with sensitive sites.

The real pill of a thing is if you have an iOS 12 limited iOS device, you're still getting security updates, but if you switch bowser on your HS mac, you lose reading list / bookmark / history browser sync.

 

[BeautifulWoman_1984]

Does anyone have a source stating whether the recent Webkit vulnerability that was patched on Safari 14 was a Safari 14-specific issue, or is it a problem for Safari 13 as well?

While I'd rather not "upgrade" to Mojave, switching to Firefox on the Mac, means having to switch on iPad and iPhone as well, and then get a Firefox account for sync etc, and I REALLY don't want to have to deal with that (nor frankly do I want to deal with Firefox's neediness of constant connections to mozilla.org).

Thank you for your reply Mattspace!

I'm hoping someone has answers for this and other ways to keep High Sierra secure as I don't want to use the "unofficial non-Apple way" of upgrading my Mac Mini mid2011 to Mojave.

 

[TiggrToo]

Thank you for your reply Mattspace!

I'm hoping someone has answers for this and other ways to keep High Sierra secure as I don't want to use the "unofficial non-Apple way" of upgrading my Mac Mini mid2011 to Mojave.

You can't. It's inherently insecure and will only get worse.

One of the biggest reasons is that your Mac uses TLS to communicate via encryption. Every so often a fix is required to shore up weaknesses in the various versions, e.g. In 2017 Apple updated High Sierra with a fix to enable TLS 1.1 and 1.2 due to weaknesses in 1.0.

1.1 is already deprecated and 1.3 is currently being pushed out.

You will get exactly zero fixes now for any problems found there.

You Mac has built in protections to prevent third parties from gaining access. Weaknesses are found in various libraries all the time. Without patching the OS becomes more vulnerable.

The longer you stay on High Sierra, the less secure your machine is.

 

[mortlocli]

You can't. It's inherently insecure and will only get worse.

One of the biggest reasons is that your Mac uses TLS to communicate via encryption. Every so often a fix is required to shore up weaknesses in the various versions, e.g. In 2017 Apple updated High Sierra with a fix to enable TLS 1.1 and 1.2 due to weaknesses in 1.0.

1.1 is already deprecated and 1.3 is currently being pushed out.

You will get exactly zero fixes now for any problems found there.

You Mac has built in protections to prevent third parties from gaining access. Weaknesses are found in various libraries all the time. Without patching the OS becomes more vulnerable.

The longer you stay on High Sierra, the less secure your machine is.

high sierra is the end of the line for my iMac...unless I go for an unsupported upgrade. (Which is a possibility..seeing Ive got one running ok on an iMac 5,1 running Mavericks.) Or using a live linux to go online with.
I need a Mac osx running to run eyetv.

After reading this I thought I better check out my virus program..Avira..still running ok with a trial version.
But on checking a comparison site found it doesn't do wifi checking.

Top Antivirus Software For Multiple Devices | Top8antivirus

Find the Best Antivirus Protection For Your Devices. Compare Top Leading Brands based on Price, Threat Protection, Firewall and more. Get the Best Deal Now!

tinyurl.com

Anyway..you may find something here to help..or check out options at filehorse:

FileHorse.com / Free Software Download for Mac

Fast and simple way to download free software for Mac OS X. Latest versions of hand-picked programs sorted into categories.

mac.filehorse.com

 

[mortlocli]

oops - made a mistake..its actually a freeware version of Avira march 30th 2021, that Im using - not the trial version.

 

[MBAir2010]

no one is getting a virus just by using High Sierra,
the late 2010 macbook air running mountain lion wont get a virus today,
or is vulnerable to being hacked.
the web browsers might let a bad web page through the ad blocker,
but still that browser will alert those if something is wrong or harmful for your computer.
you still need to be careful and use that firewall on the system presences.

 

[TiggrToo]

no one is getting a virus just by using High Sierra,
the late 2010 macbook air running mountain lion wont get a virus today,
or is vulnerable to being hacked.
the web browsers might let a bad web page through the ad blocker,
but still that browser will alert those if something is wrong or harmful for your computer.
you still need to be careful and use that firewall on the system presences.

Please don't give bad advice. An unpatched computer is an at risk computer.

Millions of IoT devices are at also risk because they remain unpatched.

Just this month researchers discovered a huge issue with many TCP stack implementations (Name:Wreck)

This goes well beyond malware - AV can't protect against such low level risks.

Fortunately the Mac wasn't affected by this one, but the next one...?

 

[MBAir2010]

Please don't give bad advice. An unpatched computer is an at risk computer.

this is more experience than advice.
people should not give up on their MacBook's version of OSX because the support is fading,
there are many users here who use older versions and ppc pre-intel processors with no problems or fear and post their experience and advice as well on those threads here.

 

[TiggrToo]

this is more experience than advice.
people should not give up on their MacBook's version of OSX because the support is fading,
there are many users here who use older versions and ppc pre-intel processors with no problems or fear and post their experience and advice as well on those threads here.

You miss the point: the OP is specifically asking the security question.

I've zero objection myself to older operating systems, but my response was in context to her question.

 

[MarkC426]

2 words, Safe Browsing.....
Be sensible which sites you visit, and you should be pretty safe.

A lot of people are too much of a sucker for anything that is free, and will click stuff.

 

[Rodan52]

Use a good no tracking, ad blocking browser like Vivaldi or Brave, run a full time VPN like Express and practice "safe" browsing habits. We pretty much have to do this with current macOS now anyway. Add to that a good anti malware app like DetectX Swift and you have covered all the bases.

 

[mortlocli]

I only started using Brave just recently...been finding it surprisingly good...and puzzled as to why its not mentioned more than it is.

 

[Rodan52]

It's been around for a while but it is getting mentioned more and more lately. If you couple it with the DuckDuck Go search engine it's pretty good. Do have a browse through its privacy settings you can pretty much eliminate tracking. As for its BAT responsible advertisement option you can take it or leave it.

 

[mortlocli]

It's been around for a while but it is getting mentioned more and more lately. If you couple it with the DuckDuck Go search engine it's pretty good. Do have a browse through its privacy settings you can pretty much eliminate tracking. As for its BAT responsible advertisement option you can take it or leave it.

ta Rodan..Ive gone thru the prefs and sorted it - prefer duckduckgo,,and left out the BAT.. makes for a leaner browsing experience.

Must take a look at Vivaldi too.

 

[davidlv]

ta Rodan..Ive gone thru the prefs and sorted it - prefer duckduckgo,,and left out the BAT.. makes for a leaner browsing experience.

Must take a look at Vivaldi too.

Read the current issue of "https://macintouch.com", which notes Apple updates to High Sierra.
SilentKnight - https://eclecticlight.co/lockrattler-systhist/ - will pick that up and on my MBP 2011, the xProtect and MRT files were also the latest up-to-date versions,

 

[BeautifulWoman_1984]

You can't. It's inherently insecure and will only get worse.

One of the biggest reasons is that your Mac uses TLS to communicate via encryption. Every so often a fix is required to shore up weaknesses in the various versions, e.g. In 2017 Apple updated High Sierra with a fix to enable TLS 1.1 and 1.2 due to weaknesses in 1.0.

1.1 is already deprecated and 1.3 is currently being pushed out.

You will get exactly zero fixes now for any problems found there.

You Mac has built in protections to prevent third parties from gaining access. Weaknesses are found in various libraries all the time. Without patching the OS becomes more vulnerable.

The longer you stay on High Sierra, the less secure your machine is.

Wow, TiggrToo, thank you for your reply!

I was just wanting to use this Mac Mini mid2011 running High Sierra as a "backup computer", but from all the posts I've read from you it seems like I'd be safer installing Windows 10 or a Nix based operating system?