Five ways to lock Mac

Leaving Mac unattended, the owner security risk your computer and stored in the cache of personal data. So absent himself and leave the car in a place where others can access it if necessary, better protection against unauthorized use - so they just have not been able even to your desktop get.

The easiest way to do this - at the time of absence, get out of the system. However, this would entail the need to close all running programs (although they automatically run the next time the input). Hide even those processes that run in the background - the conversion of the film or paper, for example. So the choice is to stop at other possibilities, each of which will block unauthorized access to your Mac and ask for a password to unlock.

First you need to set the time interval after which the system will ask for your password. This is done in the tab "General» (General), when you set up in the section "Protection and security» (Security system). the option of requesting the password should be chosen after the system or the display itself will go into sleep mode, or after the screensaver is activated. The time interval is better to choose the shortest, that is, its absence or by force - a few seconds. This is to minimize the access of others to the data on the computer.

When asked for a password function is set, you need to choose the most appropriate way to PC-Lock. Firstly, it is set to "Active angles» (Hot Corners), by which to control the system, move the cursor to one of the corners of the display. In the "System Preferences" you must choose "Desktop & Screen Saver» (Desktop and Screen Saver), click on tab "Screensaver" then "Active corners" and choose the location of the cursor, in which will be activated screensaver. It is advisable to install one of the bottom corners, because the user often moves the cursor in the upper corners of the start menu OS or Spotligh, and it would not be very useful if in the middle of the process, the system activates the screen saver, and asks password. On the other hand, this feature is convenient because you can lock the screen with a simple mouse movement.

Secondly, you can send the system into sleep mode. This is done from the menu or by pressing the appropriate key. In this case to activate the system will need to enter a password, but the disadvantage is that all active processes will be suspended again, which is not always desirable. In this case it seems more convenient to send only the display to sleep. This can be done by pressing a sequence of hot keys «Shift-Control-Eject» (or instead Eject on the new MacBook-click on the Power button is located in the same place). It will be immediately activated and operating the lock.

Next protection option - use applications "bunch of keys» (Keychain Access) for blocking usernames and passwords, and the screen itself. The application is configured so that in the system menu bar displayed Keychain Access icon - lock (Enough to put a tick in the program settings in the option "Show Keychains status bar menu"). Clicking on it, vyberaem option "Close the screen» (Lock screen), which blocks the display.

Finally, you have the option to fast user switching, which is available by default in all recent versions of OS X, or activated in the settings in earlier operating systems. When the function is activated, in the upper right corner there is a corresponding icon and user name. Click on it and you can get to the command "Login Window". Another click, and access to a PC is closed, and instantly.

[via CNET]