How to protect yourself from the huge MacOS High Sierra security vulnerability

Devices running macOS High Sierra are vulnerable to hackers. Really vulnerable.

Fortunately, though, there's a simple way to protect your computer — as long as you can follow a seven-step process released Tuesday by Apple.

News that an attacker could gain root-user access to an unlocked computer running macOS High Sierra by simply typing “root” in the “User Name” field, leaving the password field blank, and pressing “enter” while in “Users & Groups” in “System Preferences” broke on November 28th via Twitter.

Even worse, if a computer had screen sharing enabled, someone could hack into it remotely.

Apple is currently trying to find a solution, but in the meantime it has published guidelines for protecting your computer.

“We are working on a macOS High Sierra software update to address this issue,” the company said in a statement. “In the meantime, setting a root password prevents unauthorized access to Mac . To enable the Root user and set a password, follow the instructions here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204012.”

When you click through the link, you will find these seven steps listed below:

1. Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups (or Accounts).
2. Click the [lock icon], and then enter an administrator name and password.
3. Click Login Options.
4. Click Join (or Edit).
5. Click Open Directory Utility.
6. Click the [lock icon] in the directory utility window, and then type an administrator name and password.
7. From the menu bar in the Directory Utility:

* Select Edit > Enable Root User, and then enter the password you want to use for the root user.

* Or select Edit > Disable Root User.

Easy, right? But there are more. “If a root user is already enabled, to ensure that a blank password is not set, they should follow the instructions in the “Changing the Administrator Password” section.

These eight steps are:

1. Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups (or Accounts).
2. Click the [lock icon], and then enter an administrator name and password.
3. Click Login Options.
4. Click Join (or Edit).
5. Click Open Directory Utility.
6. Click the [lock icon] in the directory utility window, and then type an administrator name and password.
7. From the menu bar in the directory utility, select Edit > Change Root Password…
8. Enter a root password when prompted.

Now you're all set. Until Apple releases an official update to fix the vulnerability, you should be careful.