Last week we took up our final subject in this series on Mac OS X security, online resources and tutorials. Today let's reflect on where we've come from and draw some conclusions.

First of all, thanks to you who stayed through this series from the beginning. Thanks for listening, as one of my professors used to say!

All of these are accessed in System Preferences. The same article then goes on to recommending BrickHouse, which we ourselves discussed early on in this series. Finally it notes that quite a lot of information is logged to file by default in OS X, helpful if disaster does strike.

Last week we looked at an affordable solution to the security issues introduced by running Classic Mode, VirtualPC, and DAVE. This week we resume our firewall studies, and spend some time under the hood with BrickHouse for OS X and ZoneAlarm for Windows.

Last week we looked at Classic Mode & VirtualPC in the Mac OS X environment. Today we look at the ethernet gateway as a practical solution to the security issues introduced by them.

Last week we looked at desktop security in the OS X environment, and came up with a common-sense list of things to check. Today we examine OS X security issues on Macs that run Classic mode, VirtualPC, and DAVE.

Last week we looked at email encryption for OS X. In particular, we walked through an install of GnuPG, the open source engine of unix email encryption derived from PGP. Today we consider desktop security issues for OS X.

Last week we tweaked a few things for security in some Mac OS X email programs. Today we look at encryption of email messages. As they say, don't write in email anything you wouldn't have printed on the front page of the New York Times. Good idea.

Last week we looked at virus scanners for Mac OS X. This week we will work through specific settings and techniques for Mac OS X email client software with a view to security. The packages I'll be referring to are Apple Mail, Eudora, Pine, and Mozilla, all for OS X. Microsoft will have a version of Outlook or Entourage for OS X presently. Those will give us plenty to do. Of course there may be other packages as well, to which you can extrapolate the general principles we take up here.

Last week we discussed firewalls for Mac OS X. Just when I thought this week's security article on OS X virus scanners would be a slam-dunk for Norton AntiVirus for Mac OS X, Apple's Mac OS X Product News for this week announces Virex for Mac OS X from McAfee. It also announced another firewall product for OS X called Firewalk X.

Last week we considered some of the hazards of cable and DSL internet connections, with a walk-through of each technology. Among other things, we saw that upgrading from dial-up internet to a full-time service such as cable or DSL also exposes your computer to the internet's intrigues full-time. Today let's look at firewalls, your front line defense against internet hacking.