File vault

Now using el capitan and I notice that file vault doesn't show up any more when I log off

This is a personal computer with no sensitive material it but firewall was always there

Do I need file vault? If so where can I get it for El Capitan?

I don't have anything backed up. Nothing on this computer of a sensitive nature. Book marks to certain sites I use for banking and such but nothing stored on my computer.

Do I need file vault and if so where do I get it?

As you can see from other posts...not extremely computer savvy

Thanks

Ironman

I moved your post here to our security awareness forum.

Let's address the backups first... Everyone needs to backup their data as it doesn't matter if what you have on your computer is sensitive or not. I'm sure there are things on your Mac that if lost might be difficult to replace. Photos, music, banking information, contacts, certain programs you downloaded; are all examples of things you might want to backup.

As for FileVault... It's now known as FileVault 2 and can be turned on from System Preferences, Security & Privacy, FileVault tab. After clicking on the small lock at the bottom of the dialog, you can turn FileVault on. FileVault requires you to create a passkey (which you can store with Apple) and if used, your computer must have a password to access. If you use FileVault and lose your key, your data is gone and can not be recovered.

Now.. do you need FileVault? That's up to you, but off hand from what you said above, you probably don't need it.

If you use FileVault be very, very careful with the password. If you lose it, forget it or get confused, there is no way to recover the drive. That's how FV works. You wanted it protected and it WILL be protected, even from you.

ironman1,

In your post, you refer to File Vault in your first line and Firewall in your second line.

I only emphasise this point because File Vault and Firewall are two completely different things albeit that they can both be turned on under System Preferences > "Security & Privacy".

So which do you mean?

In my opinion, you don't need either anyway.

But you most definitely DO need a backup strategy, as chscag has said. Time Machine is the easiest as it does everything in the background and allows you to retrieve accidentally deleted content as well as restoring your settings & content to a new Mac or new Internal HDD. But it is not bootable and for that reason, many would advise a cloning software app such as Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! as a second backup.

Ian

PS If you need detailed instructions for setting up either of these, just ask.