WIFI Hotspots, who's looking in my macbook.

[zarly]

I have a new macbook pro, I had a macbook before that. I love sitting in the coffee shop doing my work, emails, listening to itunes etc, but then I noticed in finder, and in iTunes, that my macbook is picking up other macbooks and notebooks on the network, and I can see some of their files. When I discovered that I could actually see inside other people's shared folders, I said to myself "Hey, who's looking in my macbook?"

Does anyone know how I can lock it down so that in this kind of environment no one else can go snooping through my macbook?

 

[05GT]

I have a new macbook pro, I had a macbook before that. I love sitting in the coffee shop doing my work, emails, listening to itunes etc, but then I noticed in finder, and in iTunes, that my macbook is picking up other macbooks and notebooks on the network, and I can see some of their files. When I discovered that I could actually see inside other people's shared folders, I said to myself "Hey, who's looking in my macbook?"

Does anyone know how I can lock it down so that in this kind of environment no one else can go snooping through my macbook?

I believe under network preferences, you can turn off Sharing.

 

[chscag]

Zarly:

As long as you don't have sharing turned on you should be OK. Open System Preferences, and find "Sharing", it should be listed under the heading "Internet & Network. Click on "Sharing" and make sure none of the boxes are checked.

However, while using an open wireless network such as the AT&T one that Starbucks has, it's not advisable to do any critical browsing. In other words, stay away from your on line bank account and don't transact any business that may require giving out sensitive information.

Regards.

 

[zarly]

Thanks for the info! I have turned sharing off, the only thing shared was my under blue-tooth public folder.

 

[Aptmunich]

Off topic, but I quite like the sharing feature: It gives you a nice idea of which other Mac users are in the area, and since it even shows the model someone is using I can walk around the library and spot some of the people in my sidebar