Security

Explains how Activation Lock ties a lost or stolen Mac to your Apple Account through Find My, and how to turn it on, off or remove an offline Mac.

Explains the Privacy & Security pane in System Settings, which controls what information your Mac shares and how data is protected, with per-category options.

Shows how to turn on FileVault disk encryption and choose between an iCloud account or a recovery key for unlocking. Warns to keep the recovery key somewhere safe.

Gives basic hardening advice: strong passwords, separate accounts per person, locking the Mac when idle and turning on FileVault.

Apple's in-depth guide to how security is built into its hardware, system software, encryption, apps and services. Serves as an overview with links to detailed sections.

Describes the built-in firewall that guards a Mac against unwanted network access and denial-of-service attacks, and where it can be configured.

Technical description of how Gatekeeper checks downloaded software for a verified developer, notarization and tampering, and how runtime protections and sandboxing limit what apps can do.

Explains Apple's three layers of malware defence: preventing launch with the App Store and Gatekeeper, blocking with notarization, and cleaning up with XProtect.