Protect Your Mac Against the Rootpipe Vulnerability

Apple’s latest software update, OS X Yosemite (v10.10), is vulnerable to a severe bug discovered by TrueSec’s Emil Kvarnhammar. Kvarnhammar, who initially posted a video showing the results of his research, is calling the vulnerability “Rootpipe.”

After Kvarnhammar reported the results to Apple, he agreed to wait until mid-January 2015 to reveal the details of the rootpipe vulnerability in order to give Apple plenty of time to release a patch. As Kvarnhammar told ZDNet, “This might sound like a long wait, but hey, time flies. It’s important that they have time to patch, and that the patch is available for some time.”

OS X Yosemite boasts a “Redesigned interface,” according to Apple’s website, and increasing synchronicity between OS X and their mobile software, iOS. The new features have already drawn about 20% of Mac users to Yosemite, according to Net Applications.

What can you do to protect the sensitive files on your Mac? First, enable FileVault if you haven’t already. FileVault is a built-in Mac utility that encrypts your entire hard drive. You decrypt your account for your use each time you turn on your computer by entering your password. To enable FileVault or check to see if it is enabled, navigate to System Preferences on your Mac (it will appear on the Dock at the bottom by default), click on Security & Privacy, and select the FileVault tab.

Security researchers also recommend that users make an administrator account separate from the account they use every day. By default, if there is a single user account on your Mac, that is the admin account. Making the admin account separate adds a layer of protections against hackers. To set up a separate account, go to System Preferences > Users & Groups, click the lock and enter your password to make changes. You can change your account privileges and click the ‘+’ to add an account.

If you haven’t installed OS X Yosemite yet, you may be better off waiting until a new update has been released.