Open the App Store and download available updates to apps and anything else as wellģ) Disable or Remove Adobe Acrobat ReaderĪdobe Acrobat Reader has had multiple security breaches recently, therefore you’ll be safer without it in your web browser.Open Software Update from the  Apple menu and install updates when available.We’ve hammered home about this repeatedly as a general Mac OS X maintenance tip because it’s important and so easy to do: Uncheck all the boxes next to “Java SE #” in the list belowĢ) Update Apps and Mac OS X Software RegularlyĪpple regularly issues Security Updates and many third party apps do as well, therefore regularly updating both your MacOS / Mac OS X System Software and Mac OS X apps are one of the single best preventative measures you can take to keep a Mac secure.Uncheck the box next to “Enable applet plug-in and Web Start applications”.Launch the “Java Preferences” application.Open the Applications folder and then open the Utilities folder.

Click on the “Security” tab and uncheck the box next to “Enable Java”ĭisabling Java in the Safari browser is reasonably effective, but why not go a step further and disable it in Mac OS X completely? Chances are high that you won’t miss it, let alone notice it’s disabled.

Open Safari and pull down the Safari menu, selecting “Preferences”.

Otherwise you can disable it manually too.

You can read how to uninstall Java from Mac here if you don’t use java at all on the computer. Frankly, the average person doesn’t need Java installed on their Mac let alone active in their web browser, disable it and you don’t have to worry about security holes in older versions of the software impacting your Mac. Apple has already released several updates to patch the Java security holes that allowed Flashback to spread (you should install those), but you can also go a step further and completely disable Java on the Mac. Without further ado, here are eight simple ways to secure a Mac to help prevent viruses, trojans, and malware from effecting you:įlashback and other malware has installed through Java security breaches.

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