Is any protection available for old Macs?

[Blackpuddin]

Running a 2013 iMac perfectly happily on Catalina 10.15.7, which is the latest OS I'm allowed apparently.
Sophos has told me it can no longer protect this computer from outside interference.
My question therefore is, does anyone offer protection for such heinously old equipment?

[mmm-five]

You could try installing a later OS onto it using OpenCore Legacy Patcher, and just relying on the built-in security software, as I've not found I've needed any extra security (assuming you follow safe internet practices).

https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patche...

https://opencorelegacypatcher.net

The file you want from either of these sources is entitled 'OpenCore-Patcher.pkg'

[Blackpuddin]

Thanks very much, it feels a bit above my pay grade but I’ll take a look at it!

[danb79]

Protect you from what?

Unless you're looking at sites that could risk anything then leave it be

You could see if CleanmyMac works:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cleanmymac/id1339170533?mt=12

[dan98]

Catalina here too.

It's totally fine without extra protection IMO but important to use a secure browser - the latest version of Thorium works well.

[Blackpuddin]

danb79 said:

Protect you from what?

Unless you're looking at sites that could risk anything then leave it be

You could see if CleanmyMac works:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cleanmymac/id1339170533?mt=12

Yes, killing the Mac is my fear, I’m only inquiring because a techie guy who was supposed to be helping me with printer drivers said the computer had hundreds of bugs in it. Presumably because the Sophos stopped working a couple of years ago.

[Blackpuddin]

dan98 said:

Catalina here too.

It's totally fine without extra protection IMO but important to use a secure browser - the latest version of Thorium works well.

Ah ok I’m just on Chrome

[Drogo]

What's wrong with Safari?

[Blackpuddin]

Drogo said:

What's wrong with Safari?

I don’t know! I do have that as well.

[Captain_Morgan]

Blackpuddin said:

danb79 said:

Protect you from what?

Unless you're looking at sites that could risk anything then leave it be

You could see if CleanmyMac works:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cleanmymac/id1339170533?mt=12

Yes, killing the Mac is my fear, I’m only inquiring because a techie guy who was supposed to be helping me with printer drivers said the computer had hundreds of bugs in it. Presumably because the Sophos stopped working a couple of years ago.

Sounds like you need either a new “techie guy” or a new Mac, I suspect the Mac would be cheaper in the long run.

[Blackpuddin]

Captain_Morgan said:

Blackpuddin said:

danb79 said:

Protect you from what?

Unless you're looking at sites that could risk anything then leave it be

You could see if CleanmyMac works:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cleanmymac/id1339170533?mt=12

Yes, killing the Mac is my fear, I’m only inquiring because a techie guy who was supposed to be helping me with printer drivers said the computer had hundreds of bugs in it. Presumably because the Sophos stopped working a couple of years ago.

Sounds like you need either a new “techie guy” or a new Mac, I suspect the Mac would be cheaper in the long run.

Yah I don’t think he’ll be back in touch

[danb79]

Blackpuddin said:

danb79 said:

Protect you from what?

Unless you're looking at sites that could risk anything then leave it be

You could see if CleanmyMac works:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cleanmymac/id1339170533?mt=12

Yes, killing the Mac is my fear, I’m only inquiring because a techie guy who was supposed to be helping me with printer drivers said the computer had hundreds of bugs in it. Presumably because the Sophos stopped working a couple of years ago.

Ignore...

Run your Mac as it is; you don't need any protection...

User Chrome or Safari; leave the Mac's own firewall on and you'll have the firewall of your internet provider too...

[Mikebentley]

An umbrella? Or get it re waterproofed.

[Blackpuddin]

danb79 said:

Blackpuddin said:

danb79 said:

Protect you from what?

Unless you're looking at sites that could risk anything then leave it be

You could see if CleanmyMac works:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cleanmymac/id1339170533?mt=12

Yes, killing the Mac is my fear, I’m only inquiring because a techie guy who was supposed to be helping me with printer drivers said the computer had hundreds of bugs in it. Presumably because the Sophos stopped working a couple of years ago.

Ignore...

Run your Mac as it is; you don't need any protection...

User Chrome or Safari; leave the Mac's own firewall on and you'll have the firewall of your internet provider too...

Thank you for this. The techie guy (for a big printer manufacturer) seemed unusually interested in selling me stuff.

[megaphone]

As above it will be fine for now, as long as the browsers get updates they will remain as a secure as they are.

Safari will likely be the first to stop getting updates, and some sites will stop working. Other 3rd party browsers will get updates for longer.

[Blackpuddin]

Thanks all

[jagnet]

Blackpuddin said:

Drogo said:

What's wrong with Safari?

I don’t know! I do have that as well.

Unless things have changed recently, Safari is bundled with the OS so it isn't an evergreen browser in the same way Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc are.

Check your Safari version. I suspect it's going to be somewhere around v13. If it is, then that's very old, on a browser that's already notorious for feature development lagging behind others. You're likely to find that a lot of websites become buggy.

[Blackpuddin]

jagnet said:

Blackpuddin said:

Drogo said:

What's wrong with Safari?

I don’t know! I do have that as well.

Unless things have changed recently, Safari is bundled with the OS so it isn't an evergreen browser in the same way Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc are.

Check your Safari version. I suspect it's going to be somewhere around v13. If it is, then that's very old, on a browser that's already notorious for feature development lagging behind others. You're likely to find that a lot of websites become buggy.

Thank you I will have a look

[EmailAddress]

OpenCore is extremely easy and straightforward.

Work your way through the table of contents about the process. Then read it all again.

Check your specific model's compatibility.

Backup (not with Time Machine) your files.

Then follow the step by step guide.

The only tip I would offer is to run the patcher again after you've 'finished'. It doesn't always fix things like HDMI ports until the second pass.

[Blackpuddin]

Blackpuddin said:

jagnet said:

Blackpuddin said:

Drogo said:

What's wrong with Safari?

I don’t know! I do have that as well.

Unless things have changed recently, Safari is bundled with the OS so it isn't an evergreen browser in the same way Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc are.

Check your Safari version. I suspect it's going to be somewhere around v13. If it is, then that's very old, on a browser that's already notorious for feature development lagging behind others. You're likely to find that a lot of websites become buggy.

Thank you I will have a look

Somehow it's 15.6.1.