Have you returned home and noticed that your computer is somehow not so worth it, will the monitor be turned or the crumbs lie on the table? Do you think that in your absence someone from the household got into the computer without permission? How to find evidence of these assumptions?
Here I will tell you how to calculate the “secret spies”, as well as how to find out exactly what someone did with your Mac without your known.
Is someone using your computer secretly? No problem.
Table of Contents
Check the Logs on Mac
Know that no activity on the computer passes without a trace. Each computer stores a list of absolutely all actions that it performed. And this wonderful feature becomes very useful when it comes to suspicions of secretly using your computer.
In addition, the logs are stored with the time symbol, which will help you accurately track the activity onyour Mac in your absence.
Read more: How to Manage, Hide or Remove Icons from Mac Desktop?
These two journals should give you a convincing answer, whether someone used your computer or not.
Console
For Mac users, there is a way to view the logs and see how long the activity is on the computer. To do this, just go to /Applications/Utilities/Console.app, select “system.log” , type “wake” in “Search” section and you will receive a complete list of actions and the time they took place.
Terminal
Bootlog show when system was powered on. This is not the same as “login the system”, but also could be usefull for investigation.
Run “Termainl” and type:
cat /var/log/system.log | grep "bootlog"
In this case, “Terminal” show you almost the same information with bootlog stats, as you type same task in “Console” search section. Choose most likely variant for you.
Check Browser History
This is the easiest and fastest way to know that someone used your computer and went to the Internet. But everyone understands that smart people always delete the history of the browser, especially if they use someone else’s computer.
Most likely, your suspect is not so stupid as to leave such obvious traces of his presence, is not it? But there is a catch here too!
The scout could only delete his visiting history, and he could delete it along with your previous history. If you enter the browser and see an empty story, but you know for sure that you didn’t delete it yourself, then this is the first bell that someone without you used your computer.
If your “spy” is not stupid at all, you could use a private browser session, in which case everything will be fine with the history of visits. But here you can track its actions using the Internet service OpenDNS, this service is, of course, paid and you need to connect it in advance, but for some it may be indispensable.
Conclusion
Friends, in fact, the issue of personal data is worrying many now, and hardly anyone would have reacted calmly to the fact that a stranger gets into your computer, but it is not always worth turning it into an investigation, and then also, and possibly, conflict.
Sometimes it’s enough just to ask a person, and he himself admits. And maybe it was not an interest in your data, but an urgent need to go online or something like that. Do not forget to find out the reason for the actions of your “spy”!
It’s the best time to ask questions and give us your feedback in comments.
