Possible Data Loss on Macintosh

I've frequently written about data losses and often have singled out Windows security problems. Now a similar bug has been detected in the latest version of Macintosh's operating system.

The Macintosh bug concerns the use of the Guest account. If you switch from an Administrator account to a Guest account and then back again, there is a risk of wiping out the home directory data in the Administrator account. It doesn't happen every time, but does happen occasionally. Of course, happening even once can be disastrous, if you don't have backups. The problem exists only in Snow Leopard, the latest version of the Macintosh operating system.

The problem exists only on systems that have been upgraded from Apple's previous operating system: Leopard. It does not occur on new Macs that were built with Snow Leopard nor will it occur on a Mac that had its hard drive wiped clean before upgrading.

If you are using the free Time Machine backup software, you can easily restore the files from your backups. You DO have backups, don't you?

If you are a Mac user, there are several options available to avoid the problem:

1. Don't upgrade to Show Leopard until Apple fixes the problem, expected in the next few days. Of course, if you have already upgraded, that's not an option.
2. Don't use the Guest account. In fact, I wonder how many people ever use it? I have never used the Guest account on my two Macs.
3. Delete the Guest account. If you really need to create something for guests, first delete the Guest account and then create a new standard account with limited privileges and then give it a user name of "Guest." It will look like a guest account but isn't. That will avoid the bug and your guests will never know the difference.

You can read more at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/12/snow_leopard_data_eating_bug/.