I just upgraded my Quicken for Mac software to 2016; I use it for my personal expenses. When I opened it for the first time tonight, I got this popup:
This is not an Apple message! And I wish Quicken didn’t think it was a good idea.
If you enable FileVault, and you forget the password, you can’t decrypt your hard drive. I’ve heard that recently Apple has taken steps so that users won’t lose complete access to their computers, but I haven’t seen it in action yet.
One consequence to turning on File Vault is that it slows down your machine because it constantly has to encrypt everything it saves.
There will be other repercussions down the line, other unforseen circumstances. As a home tech support people, we’ve seen it cause more problems than it solves.
Turning on File Vault is the right thing to do if most of the contents of your computer shouldn’t be seen by others. If it’s just your Quicken, that may not be enough to justify using encryption.
The reason Quicken suggests turning on FileVault is that one of the new Mac features is the ability to pay bills from within Quicken, pushing your payments out to your bank. This is great so that you no longer need to pay the bill online and then enter the transaction in Quicken as well. But it does mean that you’ve allowed access to anyone with your computer.
A better solution than turning on FileVault is to password protect your Quicken file with a password that you didn’t use anywhere else, that is not related to any personal information, and is not written down in the same room as your computer.
Taking this precaution will be much more effective than locking down your entire Mac just in case some bad guy steals your computer…who is smart enough to know how to use Quicken to take money out of your bank account.
If you would like some feedback about whether turning on FileVault is right for you, call Jamie at 503-504-6392.
