Programs to protect mac os. Security is built into the system. Mac OS X update disables computers

Do it now so you don't regret it later.

We continue the topic of MacBook theft. We talked about what to do when he is no longer there. Now we’ll tell you what to do to prevent this from happening in the first place.

Part one. Immediately turn on Find My Mac

Let's start with the basics.

1. While your Mac is still yours, open System Settings and go to iCloud.

If you're asked to sign in, enter your Apple ID. If you don't have an Apple ID, click Create a new Apple ID and follow the instructions.

2. Go to settings iCloud. Here you need to enable the function "Find Mac."

3. B System settings go to Protection and safety.

4. On the panel Confidentiality Check "Enable location services."

If Family Sharing is enabled

If you have a Mac running OS X version 10.10 or later and you use Family Sharing, you should make the following settings. In parameters iCloud select “Family Sharing”, find family members and check the box next to “Allow this user to see your location”. This will make it possible to see the location of your computer, for example, from your spouse’s iPhone through the program Find iPhone.

Part two. Anti-theft protection programs

Here's a list of specialized software that can help protect your Mac and give you a better chance of getting your device back if it goes missing.

Hidden

An interesting program, one of the best of its kind. With Hidden, you can track almost everything an attacker does on a stolen computer, including viewing messages and photos they send.

The most useful feature is recording and sharing photos from the MacBook webcam. This way you will be able to see both the face of the kidnapper and everything that is happening behind him: the characteristic features of the area, cafes, streets, etc. In addition, information from the keyboard, network traffic, screenshots, and so on is collected. This is real "spy" who acts in your best interests.

The program is distributed by subscription, the basic plan for one device is only $1.25 per month. Special conditions are provided for corporate users: when purchasing a program for 100 devices, the cost of servicing one device per month is only 30 cents.

License cost– from $0.3 per Mac per month.
Official website of the program– http://www.hiddenapp.com

Undercover

The company positions the product as the best anti-theft tool. It does everything Hidden can do and more. For example, it automatically activates tracking mode when the computer is outside of a known network. Every 8 minutes it will take photos from the built-in camera and send screenshots to the address specified in advance.

In this case, the program, of course, will not use SMTP servers or email clients. Everything goes through the Undercover channel. The manufacturer promises that the program will work all over the world.

Another feature of Undercover is the "Broken Screen" when, after turning off and turning on the computer again, the program emulates a breakdown of the screen backlight. This usually leads to the attacker trying to resell the stolen laptop that “broke at the wrong time” or take it to a service center. And then it becomes clear that the computer is protected and should be returned to the owner.

It is unknown how correctly these functions (as well as service center employees) will work in Russia and other countries, but the very fact of the presence of such protection is undoubtedly encouraging. In addition, the developers promise to return the cost of the program if the laptop is still not found.

License cost– lifetime, $49 per Mac.
Official website of the program– http://www.orbicule.com

GadgetTrak

The main functions of the program are identical to those in Undercover and Hidden. There is no point in describing them again. The main thing is different: according to the editors of Engadget and Wired, GadgetTrack has the best price/quality ratio.
License cost– $19.95, there is a demo version for 30 days.
Official website of the program– http://www.gadgettrak.com

Prey

The leader of the hit parade is the Prey program - a cross-platform open source solution that also offers the user ample opportunities to track the location and actions of kidnappers. Advantages of Prey: it works on both OS X and iOS, Windows, Linux and even Android. And she free.

License cost- for free
Official website of the program– http://www.preyproject.com

As they say, “for every poison there is an antidote.” This rule applies to both laptop thieves and their victims. It would be foolish to hope that once you install software like this you can relax and leave your Mac anywhere. According to FBI statistics, about 97% of stolen laptops remain undetected. It's time to turn on paranoia mode and discuss how to avoid laptop theft.

Before leaving home

Always make backups. Use Time Machine or other backup programs, and set a schedule for automatic data backup to eliminate human error.

Encrypt your data. Your information will only be yours if the data on the disk is encrypted and the password is strong enough. There are both hardware and software encryption options. One of the most popular encryption systems is TrueCrypt. It is not without its drawbacks, but it is completely free.

Leave your contact information on/in the device. Recent research from Ponenon Institute showed that about 637 thousand laptops are lost annually at American airports alone. And there are many stories where decent people find gadgets, but don’t know where to return them. It is impossible to view contacts - there is a password. It's worth taking a reliable sticker and putting your name, phone number or email on the back of your Mac. There are many good people in the world who will try to return what they lost if they know Where.

Register your laptop with a special service. In continuation of the previous point, for people with an increased tendency to paranoia (or those who are buying the seventh iPhone because they have already lost the previous six iPhones), there are special services, for example, Lost. They offer to put a unique code on the device, and if the device is lost and found by a decent person, he will be able to enter this code into the site listed next to the code and receive your contact information.

The service is paid, but inexpensive - 170 rubles. In addition, if the device was detected by law enforcement agencies, then such a service will make it possible to quickly find the rightful owner and more fully restore the picture of the crime.

On the street/on a trip

Use a case or bag. It may seem strange, but many people carry light and beautiful Cupertino laptops without a case or bag. It’s beautiful, prestigious and... great at attracting the attention of unreliable individuals. A simple case or bag dramatically reduces random and unnecessary interest in you and your MacBook. In addition, there are many very elegant and even sophisticated solutions in this area, for example

(Mat Honan), as well as various paranoid articles about Mac security, I decided to describe how I personally protect my Mac, iPhone and iPad from external risks. More than 6 months have passed since the release of the first version of this material. Some things have changed, so I decided to update it and republish it.

Let me start with the fact that there are no plans for a coup d’etat or drawings of submarines on my equipment, so I consider Patsay’s recommendations, like “the password to access the iPhone must be set to be complex, not 4-digit digital, but arbitrary,” as a strong overstep.

Violating the balance between security and convenience causes nothing but irritation and the desire to turn it all off. Therefore, when setting up my system, I tried to maintain a sense of proportion.

What we protect

The main information that I need to secure is related to electronic wallets, access rights to servers, etc. Roughly speaking, it all comes down to protecting the database where this stuff is stored. Next comes user data, such as photos, music and other personal information. If you have been saving all this for more than one year, then the value of such data, especially photographs, is constantly growing.

You can lose information on a Mac either due to physical intervention (fire, theft) or from an external attack. Therefore, we will install protection on both sides.

It’s a good idea to protect yourself from losing your iPhone or iPad, as they can cause a serious data leak. With standard settings, anyone can access your mail or Dropbox folder.

Mac Security

Conscious users already use most of these recommendations, but I will still repeat my example:

• Set a password for your Account and disable the Guest Account. The last action has an obvious benefit - no one will be able to use your Mac under any circumstances. But there are also disadvantages - if it is stolen, it cannot be tracked by iCloud search.

You can disable guest login in the section System Settings → Users and Groups.

Here you can set the administrator password.

• The password must be entered each time after exiting sleep or screen saver mode, as well as each time you turn it on. After a certain time, you will start entering even complex passwords automatically, so this does not bring any inconvenience.

The frequency of password requests can be configured in System settings → Security.

• Enable FileVault to encrypt data on your drive, and without an administrator password, attackers will take years to decrypt your drive.

You can enable FileVault encryption in the corresponding tab of the Security section.

• Turn on Firewall and Stealth Mode. This will create an additional barrier to attacks from the network.

Be sure to activate Firewall.

Everything is simple, quite effective and without problems. The only thing you now have to do is enter a password when logging in. If you want even more reliability, you can deprive the main account of Administrator rights, but this will already affect the convenience.

iPhone and iPad Security

The main problem with losing a phone is that the finder gains access to mailboxes and Dropbox content (where 1Password likes to be backed up). Therefore, the first thing you need to do when setting up your iPhone is to set a password to unlock it.

You can disable guest login in System Settings → Users and Groups
The darker the dot, the more often people use that PIN
If we summarize this research, we get the following recommendations:

• Avoid increasing sequences;
• Avoid any dates like DDMM, DDMM, MMYY, etc. (2311, 1123, 1984, 0683...);
• Avoid keyboard patterns (1245, 2580, 3698...);
• Avoid digital patterns (8585, 6969, 4567...);
• And never use one of these codes:

0000, 0101–0103, 0110, 0111, 0123, 0202, 0303, 0404, 0505, 0606, 0707, 0808, 0909, 1010, 1101–1103, 1110–1112, 1123, 1201–1203, 1210–1212, 1234, 1956–2015, 2222, 2229, 2580, 3333, 4444, 5252, 5683, 6666, 7465, 7667.

Well, now let’s return to the iPhone and what needs to be configured on it:

• set a password on your phone;
• select auto-lock after 1–2 minutes;
• enable data deletion after 10 incorrect password attempts;
• set up iCloud to backup important data (address book).

All of these steps will prevent an attacker from gaining access to your applications.

Backup

Proper backup will reduce total data loss to zero. I use three-level backups. Of course, everything revolves around here. This means that backups can happen automatically at home to your Time Capsule (or any external drive), as well as to an additional drive at work.

The probability of simultaneously wasting both disks and the computer is much less. But if this happens, then a USB stick with a 1Password database and important files, which can be hidden in a safe deposit box, will be useful on the household. You only need to update its contents when you plan to change your main passwords. In practice, this happens no more than twice a year, so the method does not cause any inconvenience, but there can be a lot of benefits from such a lifesaver.

Of course, the Time Machine backup disk and USB stick must be encrypted. You can do this using Disk Utility.

Protection from external threats

The most common scenario is that someone will gain access to your mailbox and recover passwords from other services. There is no point in talking about the complexity of passwords; it is better to talk about the very ideology of working with mail.

History shows that @me.com mail has repeatedly compromised itself. Therefore, only a crazy person would register domains with hosting and other important information for it. Here is an excellent example of how MacPages.me was hacked through this email.

For important data, you need to create a separate email known only to you. By the way, here you can forget about Gmail and turn to the help of other services. For example, a free Lavabit account will be more than enough for these purposes (at the time of writing, they have temporarily suspended registrations).

You can use the same mailbox to recover passwords from all other email addresses and services. But what you don’t need to do is connect such mail to your iPhone or iPad.

After creating such an email and transferring key services to it, do not forget to look for passwords in your old mailbox. You'll be surprised how many "leaks" you can find there.

Thus, hacking any of your public mailboxes will not allow an attacker to recover passwords to your domain, hosting, Twitter, Facebook, as well as other email accounts and other good things.

Well, if you chose Gmail, then two-level authorization will help reduce the likelihood of hacking itself (when, in addition to the password, you need to enter the confirmation code sent to your phone).

The final touch is one-time passwords in Gmail for authorizing applications. When you enable this feature, you can create a one-time password for each application that works with Google services.

It is especially useful for iPhone or iPad. If you lose your device, you only have to log into your account and “disconnect” the necessary programs (devices) from your mail. Those interested can read the article How do one-time passwords work? on the hub.

Now point by point:

• Use separate emails: personal, work, for trash registrations and super secret;
• Set up two-level authorization wherever possible;
• To recover important passwords, including passwords for public mailboxes, link to a secret email;
• All external email programs must use one-time passwords.

The system is quite effective, since hacking any of the public mailboxes does not have any serious consequences, and this process itself is impossible without physical access to the phone. Losing the phone itself is also not a problem - in a couple of minutes you can disconnect it from mail or clean it altogether. Accounts can be accessed using one of the secret one-time passwords.

The only problem is these one-time passwords, which must be generated when connecting each new program that works with mail. But you only need to do this once (for the current session).

Eventually

It seems to me that the task of protecting data with minimal user interference has been completed. Anyway, it works for me. The rear is covered, you don’t have to keep a bunch of complex passwords in your head, and user data is almost impossible to destroy. In any scenario, you can restore the system to its original state and restore passwords.

Every year more and more people use a computer primarily to store information. Both personal and work. From photos, credit card details, to the secrets that make our business depend. All this obliges us to be more responsible about the safety of personal data, especially since there has been more than enough for this recently. Unfortunately, even the most advanced OS is not able to guarantee complete data safety, because a person controls the computer.

In this article, I'll tell you how macOS allows you to secure your data and protect it from theft or damage. However, before I begin, I would like to say a few more words. The fact is that by default, the first user logged on to a computer running macOS receives administrator rights. Since macOS is a UNIX-like operating system, many of the ideas and user experience philosophies were also borrowed from UNIX. For example, on macOS, an administrator user is a so-called super user. This entity within macOS has absolute power, can make changes to the system configuration and has no access rights checked. This means that you are the full owner of your computer and can do whatever you want (or almost everything). This kind of power is good when you act consciously and have a good understanding of the consequences of your actions. But there is also another side to the coin. Without knowing it, you could “give” your password to a malicious program, and then the security of your data will be at risk. And even the perfect macOS security mechanisms won't save you from trouble.

So, you can start simple. You need to find out if you are an administrator. It's easy. In the system settings, open the “Users and Groups” item. If your account has administrator rights, then under your username there will be an inscription “Administrator”. Now everything is very clear. Almost all responsibility for the safety of your own data rests on your shoulders. Now let's look at the potential sources of threats that could pose a threat to your data and how to protect against them.

Password to your account

Whatever level of access your computer account has, you must have a password set to log in. Take it for granted. You don't leave your car unlocked in the parking lot, do you? Or, say, don't go to bed without locking the front door? So why do you think that you can't use a password to gain access to your computer account? Remember, you must have a password. Necessarily. And the more complex and longer it is, the more reliably your data is protected.

I would recommend setting a password of at least 12 characters (Apple has more flexible requirements) using uppercase letters, uppercase letters and numbers. It will be even better if the password is unreadable. To create such a password, you can use an automatic password generator.

Physical destruction of data

This is perhaps one of the most dangerous threats. Physical destruction of user data may result from your Macintosh being damaged, stolen, or lost. In all of the above cases, you may lose all your data: photo archives, personal videos, work files, digital keys and much more, which will be either very difficult to recover or completely impossible.

However, by taking a certain list of measures, you can protect yourself. The first tool Apple puts in our hands is Time Machine. This is a system program for creating backup copies. It works in fully automatic mode. To get started with it, all you need is an external drive connected via USB to your MacBook. Before use, I would strongly recommend that you enable encryption of the backup copy, then no one except you will be able to access it (of course, if you take care of the backup password like the apple of your eye).

Using a hard drive is a great first step, but it has disadvantages. You will constantly need to connect it manually to the Macintosh. Sooner or later you will either forget to do this or get bored. For greater convenience, you can buy a Time Capsule and the backup will occur automatically whenever you connect to your home Wi-Fi network. If you have an old computer at home, you can install Linux or FreeBSD on it and set up network storage using Netatalk. This is easy to do and such a backup tool will be much cheaper than buying a Time Capsule.

Unfortunately, there are no built-in tools in macOS that would allow you to backup to the clouds, but this shortcoming can be easily corrected using third-party applications. For example, I use Arq for these purposes. This is an excellent program that can automatically make backups to Google Cloud Storage, Google Drive, Amazon Cloud Drive and others. This solution will provide additional protection, since your hard drive or old computer could be stolen along with your Mac during an apartment robbery. In this case, important data will be in the cloud and can be recovered.

And finally, it would be a good idea to take care of data encryption on the SSD of your Macintosh. Of course, we would like there to be no thefts in our lives, but it is worth taking measures in case this does happen. In such a situation, the most important thing is to make it impossible to read data from the built-in drive. To do this, you should use the built-in boot disk encryption system FileVault 2, and the “Find Mac” functionality will help you return your Macintosh in case of theft.

Obtaining a password by fraud

As I mentioned above, the first user that is created when setting up macOS automatically becomes an administrator. Since the administrator has complete power over the system, giving the password to attackers through deception can have disastrous consequences for the person being deceived. To prevent such cases, starting with Mac OS X Lion, Gatekeeper functionality is guarding your peace of mind, which combines various macOS mechanisms for checking for known malware, helping to protect your computer from viruses and programs of dubious origin downloaded from the Internet. That is, with the default settings, you can install applications that are signed with a certificate with a Developer ID (developer verified by Apple) or programs from the App Store. This is the best option that will prevent malware from even entering your computer and starting a dialogue as a result of which you will be deceived.

However, there are times when you need to install an application (such as the wonderful AppCleaner) that is not signed with an Apple developer certificate. To do this, you will have to disable Gatekeepr. You can perform this action from the command line by running the command:

sudo spctl --master-disable

To enable Gatekeepr you need to run the command below:

sudo spctl --master-enable

I strongly recommend that these steps only be performed by experienced users who understand the responsibilities of such a decision. After Gatekeeper is turned off, you should pay increased attention to monitoring installed applications. For example, if you install a program from a package that is not signed with a certificate with a Developer ID. In this case, it is worth looking at where the installer is going to make changes. This can be done using the shortcut ⌘+I.

If the names of the files that the installer is going to write to the file system seem suspicious or there are too many places where the files will be written, I would recommend refraining from installing. Once the application is installed and you have opened it for the first time, Gatekeepr can be enabled again using the command above.

I would also like to say a few words about Safari. In macOS Sierra, the browser is able to recognize phishing sites whose goal is to obtain information about your Internet accounts, including logins, passwords and credit card information. If such a message appears, loading of the suspicious page stops and you are shown a corresponding message. Do not ignore them under any circumstances.

Exploiting Vulnerabilities

Unfortunately, macOS, like any operating system, is not perfect. It was created by people, and people, as we know, can make mistakes. Unfortunately, sometimes these errors allow attackers to bypass the built-in protection of macOS and, by executing malicious program code, gain access to user data or take control of the computer.

In this case, there is only one way to reduce the risk. It's very simple. It is necessary to install system updates and security updates in a timely manner, without delaying until tomorrow. As a rule, they contain fixes that close detected vulnerabilities in macOS and significantly increase the reliability of the operating system.

Bottom line

So let's summarize. In order to keep your data safe, you must follow, if not all, then at least most of the rules listed below:

• Disable automatic login for your account;
• Set a password of at least 12 characters using lowercase, uppercase letters and numbers;
• Start creating backups using Time Machine;
• Set up cloud backup;
• Encrypt the contents of your drive with FileVault 2;
• Try to use Gatekeeper functionality;

Modern Mac devices are best protected from the effects of various viruses, Trojans and spyware, but for those who are still not confident in the security of their system, it is recommended to use the protection tips below. This is a complete set of measures that will help avoid attacks, as well as ensure complete security of various aspects of the system.

Password management

One of the most important aspects of protecting your Mac is passwords. When using various types of virtual services, you should select a unique password for each of them. Many users store their passwords in the default Notes app, but this option is extremely insecure. OS X has a powerful alternative solution - "Keychain Access", which you can use to more conveniently organize working passwords. The action of this extension is aimed at preventing hacking and mass “merging” of important information into the World Wide Web.

Mac OS Firewall: Description and Purpose

The OS X firewall is a kind of network filter for controlling incoming connections of certain programs and extensions. The standard utility works with each individual application, providing the user with more advanced capabilities. You can configure the OS X Firewall in the "Security and Protection" section by first turning it on. This program is designed to reliably protect the OS while using public wireless Internet networks in cafes or hotels.

Setting up FileVault - encrypting files on your hard drive

FileVault is a special encryption system used to protect all files on your hard drive. The extension is enabled in the settings, section "Security and Protection". After enabling the FileVault option, the user must set up accounts that will subsequently be used to unlock the hard drive. After this, the system will begin encryption. It may take several hours. This procedure ensures high protection of confidential data, passwords, logins and other important information from unauthorized use by third parties. After unlocking the hard drive, the files can be read, but to gain full access you will need to log in to the configured account. This approach will help avoid theft and use of personal data by attackers.

Additional options for remote control

For remote access to the OS, you can use convenient options that allow you to control the device in any place convenient for the user. The first such option is configured in the “Basic” - “Security and Protection” tab. This is where you should put the value in the “Request password” column. Here you should select either the “Immediately” or “After 5 Seconds” tab. After this, the system will ask for a password every time it enters sleep mode.

To remotely access and track the device's location, open the settings
iCloud and enable Back to My Mac/Find My Mac services. The first extension provides convenient remote access, the second allows you to track the location of a lost/stolen device.

Complete security of Mac OS is a necessary measure, which involves not only the presence of high-quality anti-virus components, but also the use of standard system programs to best protect the OS from the influence of third-party programs and scammers.

The issue of privacy in the modern world concerns not only celebrities. With enviable regularity, new leaks of users’ personal data appear on the Internet. It's difficult to customize a personal computer to suit your needs, and when security comes into the equation, it becomes even more difficult. Personal photographs, documents and personal data - you probably don’t want to share all this with strangers. The editors of McRadar have prepared detailed instructions that will save you from unnecessary worries.

Setting up OS X

Ease of use is one of the best known benefits of Mac computers. However, there are also disadvantages arising from this fact. For example, private data is practically in the public domain, which makes it easier for attackers or malicious applications to act. Despite this, OS X has an extensive list of security settings, the following seven of which are worth taking advantage of.

Check your security settings

Go to “System Settings” → “Protection and Security” and select the “Privacy” section. Select the apps that are allowed to access location information, iCloud, and system details (Accessibility section). Actions are performed both for all applications together, and for several selected from the list.

Enable FileVault

OS X comes with FileVault encryption built-in. Once you turn it on, you will need a login and password or a recovery key to view any data on your computer. This system is turned on in the same settings section. After this, all internal storage will be encrypted, and the system will require a password for any access to data.

Don't use Keychain

You shouldn't rely on the built-in password storage service, especially for anything that concerns your browser data. Instead, use third-party solutions: LastPass or 1Password are good choices. Unlike Keychain, where access to all registration data, network storage, and encrypted files is guaranteed by a system password, its alternatives require entering a master password. This will make it much more difficult for attackers to access personal data.

Check your iCloud settings

Synchronization through this cloud storage is one of the main advantages of the Apple ecosystem. However, if you share a computer at home, automatically syncing photos, files, contacts, and other system and application data can leak important information. In this case, you should completely disable iCloud. To do this, go to “System Preferences” → iCloud and click the “Sign Out” button. Naturally, there is no talk of further synchronization, but this action will provide additional protection for personal data. If you don’t want to pay for this by not having the benefits of cloud storage, at least check whether two-factor authentication is enabled.

Turn off iMessage and FaceTime

Continuity mode is the main innovation of OS X Yosemite and the most anticipated improvement to the company's product ecosystem. Thanks to it, calls, messages and data about the status of other applications are synced with your Mac via iPhone. Now imagine that a stranger is working on your computer, and you receive a private message. Not only will he see a pop-up notification with the text - by going to “Messages”, he will also be able to read the entire correspondence. A computer is a much less personal device than a smartphone, and if this security flaw worries you, turn off Continuity in Messages and FaceTime. In each application, go to settings and disable your Apple ID account.

Disable Spotlight Web Search

For Spotlight to work, it needs to send data about your search queries to Google or whatever search engine you use. The second and more important security feature of Spotlight is that data is sent to Apple, which doesn't seem like a good idea, even despite the company's assurances of confidentiality. The built-in assistant is disabled in “System Settings” → Spotlight → Search Results. There you need to uncheck the boxes next to “Spotlight Suggestions” and Bing Web Searches. If you need this functionality, use its analogue Alfred.

Hide unwanted files

Selecting the places in the system where the search is carried out is one of the settings of the Spotlight personal assistant. You can protect yourself from showing unwanted files to a stranger who uses Spotlight in “System Settings” → Spotlight. Uncheck the boxes next to the files that you do not want to display. They will continue to be indexed, but will not appear in search results. Also in the privacy settings, you select folders that Spotlight will exclude from search objects.

We protect personal data

OS X doesn't protect your data from third-party apps, which means you'll need to do all this yourself. Protecting your online privacy is an important step that comes to the rescue in such situations, but beyond that there are a few other tips that can enhance your security.

Download browser privacy extensions

If you spend a lot of time on Internet browsing, install AdBlock Plus and Disconnect. They will protect your personal data from leakage and tracking by advertisers, websites and search engines.

Use a VPN

Virtual Private Network technology is useful for protecting sensitive data when using public networks. If you work on a computer in coffee shops or other crowded places, pay attention to it.

Install only approved applications

By default, this option is enabled in the OS X settings. It limits the installation of applications from unknown sources, thereby protecting the computer from malicious code that, if it does not harm it, will become a source of problems for other gadgets that interact directly with it. To be on the safe side, go to “System Preferences” → “Protection and Security” and in the General column, select Mac App Store and identified developers from the Allow apps downloaded from drop-down list.

These are the simplest steps to enhance security. For added protection, use privacy-friendly browsers and replace Google's search engine with DuckDuckGo.

Block physical access to your computer

Securing access to data on the computer itself is only half the task. Since Apple's most popular computers are laptops, an important security aspect is protecting physical access to the system itself.

Make your lock screen active

To do this, go to System Preferences → Security & Privacy and in the General tab, check the box next to the Require password and Disable automatic login fields to make sure that your Mac will prompt you for a password to log in in the future.

Hide your username

By default, the lock screen displays the names of users available for login. In theory, this allows an attacker to guess the password and gain access to the data.

sudo dscl . create /Users/hiddenuser IsHidden 1

This command adds another layer of security to you by requiring you to enter both a username and password when logging in.

Add a guest account

In case you need to give a computer to a friend or acquaintance for short-term use, a guest account is the best way to protect personal data. Go to System Preferences → Users & Groups and select the Guest User option. Next, check the Allow guests to log in to this computer checkbox. If FileVault is enabled on the computer, the user will only be able to use the browser, which is sufficient for most short-term sessions.

All of the above tips will make your Mac more secure, your personal data more private, and your browsing safer. Naturally, such protection is not ideal, and it can always be bypassed, but at the very least you will make the life of an attacker more difficult.