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I plan to use my Macbook Pro at work/office. Before I do so, I will need to speak to my manager on how to properly prepare and secure it since this is the first Mac that will be regularly used on the network in the office and company intranet.

The intranet comprises mostly of PCs running Microsoft Windows XP, Server 2003, and Windows 7. So there's definitely a Microsoft-only culture in the office, and the infrastructure/networking team are familiar with Microsoft technology and software.

What steps and software would I need to prepare and secure my Macbook Pro for work/office?

  • Antivirus/Spyware software for Mac required/necessary?
  • What options do I have to encrypt files, or possibly the whole drive/partition?
  • What network/firewall settings should be enabled?
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I can't help you with network settings, but other than that I think the main concern in bringing your Mac into a Windows environment is for you to not 'forward' Windows malware (that won't affect you) to your colleagues - here's a discussion. A good, general-security start is to not enter your admin password unless you trust the software you are installing ;-)

  1. For a good (open source) AV system, go for ClamXav and keep it updated. Set up Sentry to watch at least your Downloads folder and scan email. It catches a lot of Windows virusses.
  2. For (open source) encryption, Truecrypt. Volumes are portable between OSX, Linux and Windows.
  3. Go for the most conservative settings in System Preferences > Sharing and System Preferences > Firewall that still enables your computer to work - Stealth Mode and so on.

Cheers!

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I'd work the other way around. Ask the infrastructure/networking team how they protect their windows machines(why the hell are they mixing xp vista and 7 I kinda miss nt4 and 3.5 in the list) and go from there what you need to do to your mac or nothing.

Second you need to ask to which services you need and want to connect to in the network.

Don't forget to harden your mac first so encrypted home folder(just a setting) passwords on accounts and the guest account enabled if somebody is allowed to use your mac without an account.

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