If you know me at all, you know that I am conscientious about computer security. After all, even though your Mac is valuable, your data is even more valuable. Losing data isn't (or shouldn't be) an option.

There are many ways to improve your personal computer security. In this Mac Tip, I will talk about 3 ways to drastically improve your security. Best of all, it takes about 10 seconds to setup.

Below is a screenshot of the Security section of your System Preferences. To open this, click on System Preferences (from your Dock), and then click on the Security button. There are three items checked here. I will talk about why you should also have these checked on your Mac:

Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver
When you leave your computer for a period of time, your screen saver may be configured to automatically turn on for you (if it isn't, it should be). This features requires your password to be entered before the computer disables the screen saver. It also requires your password to wake your computer form sleep mode.

Disable automatic login
If someone were to get a hold of your computer without your knowledge (lost or stolen, for example), and this feature is not turned on, all they would need to do to gain access to your data is to turn the computer on. Without this checked, OS X will automatically log you into your account, giving them free reign to do whatever they please.

Require password to unlock each secure system preference
This is kind of a no-brainer. One of the really nice things about OS X is that it can require you (as the Administrator) to enter your password each time you attempt to do something with a security-related feature. Installing software, changing accounts, etc are a couple examples of these. With this checked, anyone who does happen to gain access to your machine while unattended will find no joy when they try to change the Administrator password, create a new account delete an account, etc. This is a very good last-resort security feature.