Advanced Security Trident MacBook Security Config 2023

[Trident]

Configuration 1/3

 

[MuzzMelbourne]

No Time Machine encrypted back-ups?

 

[Trident]

No Time Machine encrypted back-ups?

I am subscribed to the most expensive tier of Apple One. I’ve added 5 friends (all paid £60 for a year of it) and we all have Apple Music, Arcade, Fitness+, News+, TV+ and only I have the 2 TB cloud storage. Everything is stored in there so I will never lose any data really.

This device is the safest of all and used for general activities only, apart from that I have a Chrome OS Flex device and Windows 11 which is used for malware testing (I used to be more productive in malware testing before than now).

 

[Trident]

09/03/22 Enabled iCloud Advanced Data Protection (End-to-End Encryption).

iCloud data security overview

iCloud uses strong security methods, employs strict policies to protect your information and leads the industry in using privacy-preserving security technologies, such as end-to-end encryption for your data.

support.apple.com

 

[MuzzMelbourne]

How do you like the M1 Pro chip? I'm jealous, couldn't raise the extra cash to get the 14". Next time maybe, M3 Pro???

 

[Trident]

How do you like the M1 Pro chip? I'm jealous, couldn't raise the extra cash to get the 14". Next time maybe, M3 Pro???

The processor itself is a beast. I’ve been having this Mac for ~ a year now and I’ve never heard fans working even after hours of usage, neither I’ve felt any lag. Everything is extremely snappy. Games run well (I am a bit weird and old-fashioned in gaming and like these Arcade games that remind me of old times like Asphalt 8, shoot-em-up games and all these). Video rendering is extremely fast too.

Programs that are natively running on M1 and they are all in my case are fast in anything. In terms of benchmarks I will need to do again, don’t remember numbers.

I was considering Dell XPS 15 with 12th gen i7, HP Spectre x360 with 11th gen i7 (lower model and wattage than the XPS and hence discarded) and Mac. I went for Mac and no regrets.

 

[Trident]

04/06/23 01:50 AM
Finished phasing out NextDNS in favour of Control D (Full Control Version). For this and 5 other devices.

Benefits of Control D over NextDNS:

1. Provides better protection against ads, trackers and specially phishing/malware.
2. Provides better management through more organised and easier to use interface, better statistics/log lists, easier domain blocking/unblocking, profiles management and even scheduling.
3. Seems to be evolving way faster then NextDNS whose development has totally stagnated.
4. May be able to bypass geo-blocks (not tested properly yet).

 

[Trident]

16/06/23 Replaced Norton 360 with Check Point Harmony Advanced (EDR).

 

[Razza]

Benefits of Control D over NextDNS:

1. Provides better protection against ads, trackers and specially phishing/malware.
2. Provides better management through more organised and easier to use interface, better statistics/log lists, easier domain blocking/unblocking, profiles management and even scheduling.

I've not tested the protection, my question is about the 2nd point which way is it better then Nextdns UI wise, I tested it last year the web ui seem messy compared to Nextdns.

 

[Trident]

I've not tested the protection, my question is about the 2nd point which way is it better then Nextdns UI wise, I tested it last year the web ui seem messy compared to Nextdns.

You feel it’s messy because you are used to NextDNS which is different. It takes a bit of time to readjust to Control D but once you do, it is actually easier getting around and doing what you need to do.

For example, all settings are placed under “profiles” and divided in 4 categories.
Filters, services, custom rules and profile options.
Filters is your ads, trackers and other content blocking rules. Custom rules allow you to block, unblock or redirect a website to another region. Services allows you to block specific apps/services from connecting or redirect to another region. Profile options includes the AI, DNS rebinding protection, cache lifetimes and others.

Logs and statistics includes everything you need to know about the devices, such as what was blocked (you may need to unblock something).

 

[Razza]

You feel it’s messy because you are used to NextDNS which is different. It takes a bit of time to readjust to Control D but once you do, it is actually easier getting around and doing what you need to do.

For example, all settings are placed under “profiles” and divided in 4 categories.
Filters, services, custom rules and profile options.
Filters is your ads, trackers and other content blocking rules. Custom rules allow you to block, unblock or redirect a website to another region. Services allows you to block specific apps/services from connecting or redirect to another region. Profile options includes the AI, DNS rebinding protection, cache lifetimes and others.

Logs and statistics includes everything you need to know about the devices, such as what was blocked (you may need to unblock something).

I might give a look again, am not that used to Nextdns I currently use AdGuard Home hosted on one of my cloud servers so it works at home and when on mobile data.

 

[Trident]

I might give a look again, am not that used to Nextdns I currently use AdGuard Home hosted on one of my cloud servers so it works at home and when on mobile data.

I may find that UI messy, as I am not familiar with it
It will take me a day or two.