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IPhone/iPad (iOS) app development and Publish to iTunes Store. For publishing your app on iTunes store you need to pay (example $99 / year). So For complete iOS Development Setup you need. Get Mac Mini or Mac Machine; Create Developer Account on Apple its free; After login developer account you can download Xcode IDE's.dmg file.
You turn on your MacBook and feel that something is wrong: some files have disappeared, or new files were added. You wonder if someone has been watching your computer.
So, how to tell if someone is remotely accessing your MacBook? You need to check your logs, verify that no new users were created, make sure that remote login, screen sharing and remote management are disabled, and no spyware is running on your computer.
First things first. If you suspect that someone is controlling your laptop and if there is a chance that they watching you thru the webcam immediately apply a cover on laptop’s webcam. You can find my favorite webcam covers here.
Pro-tip: While it is certainly possible that someone is remotely accessing your Mac, chances are higher that you caught a virus. Click here to find out the best antivirus programs for Mac.
What is remote access and how is it configured on MacBooks?
There are three ways to access MacOS remotely: allow remote logins from another computer, enable Screen Sharing or allow access by using Remote Desktop. Both ways are legitimate, but if you don’t remember doing any of them you need to know how to turn on and off those possibilities.
Remote login to MacOS
Computers that run MacOS as an operating system can log in to your Mac using Secure Shell (SSH). Steps to enable remote login are the following:
Once Remote Login is enabled then users with access can use SSH to log in and browse your computer’s contents.
Access to Mac screen using Screen Sharing
If you need help from IT to make changes on your MacBook or maybe you are collaborating on a project and want to share your screen you can enable Screen Sharing. Steps to enable as follows:
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Now on another Mac (from which you want to access to your Mac) start Screen Sharing app. You can start it by clicking Command and Space buttons. In a popup form type Sharing and hit Enter. Type your computer name. In my case, I had to type in “dev-pros-MacBook-Pro.local”.
How To Open Unauthorized Apps On Mac Pro
A new window will pop up with the shared screen of another computer. Now you can control the screen.
Remote Desktop with Remote Management
Finally, it is possible to login to a computer with MacOS by enabling Remote Desktop. Steps to enable as follows:
How To Open Unauthorized Apps On Mac Desktop
Now you can access this Mac from Apple Remote Desktop – it’s an application you can buy from Apple Store and at the time of writing it’s cost was $79.99.
If your Mac is being monitored, it will show this image (two rectangles) in the top right-hand corner near your computer time:
How To Open Applications Mac
When that symbol appears, you will be able to tell if you are being monitored. You can also disconnect the viewer by clicking on Disconnect option:
You can also click on “Open Sharing Preferences…” which will open Sharing folder in System Preferences.
Since the question you had was if someone remotely accessing your computer then the chances are that you don’t need any of sharing capabilities mentioned above.
In this case, check all options on Sharing folder under System Preferences to make sure that nobody is allowed to access it and turn off (uncheck) all options.
Verify if new users were created
As we’ve seen already remote login or sharing options require assigning access roles to the local users. If your system was hacked it is very likely that the hacker has added a new user to access it. To find out all users in MacOS perform the following steps:
On my laptop it listed dev1, nobody, root and daemon.
If you see the accounts, you do not recognize then they probably have been created by a hacker.
In order to find when the user account was used to log in last time type the following command into the Terminal:
last
For each account, MacOS will list the times and dates of logins. If the login to any of the accounts happened at an abnormal time, it is possible that a hacker used a legitimate account to log in.
Check the logs
It may be useful to check the system logs for any possible access issues.
In order to find a system log, click on Go option in the top menu or simultaneously click Shift, Command and G. In the “Go to Folder” popup type: /var/log and hit Enter.
Now find system.log file and scan for word sharing. For instance, I found following screen sharing log entries:
These were log entries when someone logged in to my system remotely:
Check for spyware
If you are still suspecting that spyware is running on your machine you can use a third party application like Little Snitch which monitors applications, preventing or permitting them to connect to attached networks through advanced rules. Setting up the rules for Little Snitch, however, could be complicated.
One of the common spyware applications is a keystroke logger or keylogger. Keyloggers used to be apps that record the letters you type on the keyboard, but they significantly in last years. Suffice to day that keyloggers can take screenshots every 30 seconds or even track your chat activity, including the messages sent to you.
I believe that keyloggers are much greater security threat because they are easier to install and the powerful features they offer. Check my article about keyloggers here: How to know if my Mac has a keylogger
Security Best Practices
1.Change passwords regularly
One thing you should immediately if you are suspecting that someone is logging to your system is to change your password. And the password should be complex enough so that other people wouldn’t be able to guess it. This means avoiding using things like birthdate, first or last name or relatives, house or apartment number, etc. As a rule of thumb the password must be long enough (8 – 32 characters) and include at least 3 of the following character types:
How To Open Unauthorized Apps On Mac Os
2.Enable Security Updates by clicking on “Automatically keep my Mac up to date” in Software Update folder in System Preferences.
3. Install Antivirus. I received a lot of emails where people described suspicious activity on their Macs. I found that in about 60-70% cases, the culprit was malwareand not someone breaking into the computer. It’s a myth that Macs don’t get viruses. If you need proof check the next article I wrote after testing 12 antivirus programs after injecting 117 malware samples on my Mac:
How To Open Unauthorized Apps On Macbook Pro
Making a few changes on your Apple TV settings app can help prevent strangers from gaining unauthorized access to your AirPlay connection.
AirPlay is one of the best features of Apple which allows you to share videos, music, photos, and other types of content from your Mac, iPhone, or iPad to your Apple TV. You can also use AirPlay to stream content to speakers or compatible smart TVs like LG or Samsung.
However, some Apple TV users find it annoying that its default settings allow strangers nearby to connect to your AirPlay. This presents a problem particularly if you live in dense locations like condominiums or an apartment block.
Default AirPlay settings allow anyone within Wi-Fi range to discover your Apple TV and may attempt to AirPlay to it. If you are enjoying your time at home, sitting comfortably on your couch or chair, and trying to enjoy some TV shows, it is definitely irritating to be constantly disturbed by AirPlay connection dialogs.
Making a few simple changes in the settings can help you prevent neighbors or total strangers from connecting to your AirPlay on Apple TV. Doing so will allow you to enjoy shows without getting interrupted by connection dialogs asking you for access.
To make changes, open the Settings app on your Apple TV. Then select AirPlay & HomeKit and choose Allow Access. From there, you can change the default setting 'Everyone' to 'Anyone on the Same Network.'
This setting shows your AirPlay option only to people with devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network where your Apple TV also connects. Having this setting prevents people nearby from connecting to your AirPlay connection on Apple TV and also stops the bothersome PIN code request from unexpectedly popping up.
Guests visiting your home who wished to use the AirPlay on your Apple TV will need permission for them to be on your Wi-Fi network. You can further make the access more restrictive when you configure HomeKit settings on your Apple TV.
There is an option there that allows 'Only People Sharing This Home' to use AirPlay. This means only those who are nearby and were able to set up their user profiles in the Home app can AirPlay to your Apple TV. This setting is particularly useful if you do not want your guests to freely use AirPlay but allow them WiFi access.
These settings apply to all HomeKit speakers and Apple TVs. You can also customize the settings to so it will be on a per-device basis on our Apple TV whenever the 'Allow Nearby to AirPlay' shows up on the screen. You can also turn this setting off if you do not want others connecting to your AirPlay on Apple TV.
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