[moonmonkey]

I have a mac mini set up as a media center plugged into my lovely big TV.
The media account is non admin and my wireless network is well protected.
I have no keyboard or mouse attached.

My question : do I really need a password on my media center account?

[red rocket]

Of course you need a password.

Unless you can guarantee 24/7 physical security, somebody might break into your TV room when you're not in, attach a keyboard and mouse to the mini, load it full of child porn and terrorist vids, report you to the police, and off to prison you go.

Not having a password is just asking for it.

[peeb]

Wow, that's kind of paranoid.
If they broke into your TV room, why would they need software access to you computer to cause havoc? At that point, if they were setting you up in a sting like this, they could just leave photos in a box.
I think you would be fine to automatically boot into a user account in this case.

[shifuimam]

No, you don't necessarily need a password. I have guest accounts setup on my computers so that my family members and friends can use them without needing a password. In fact, since that machine has no keyboard hooked up to it, a password is more of a hindrance than anything.

Make sure any admin accounts are well secured with good passwords, and make sure that the Media account is as locked down as possible. Then you should be good to go.

[moonmonkey]

Thanks! this is what I thought.

Red Rocket, the person who broke in would need to bring their own keyboard and mouse, if they were smart enough to do this, I'm sure they could bring the OS DVD and reset my system password anyway, or just put the offending material onto my external hard disk which is not protected.

[msuper69]

I'm fairly certain red rocket is making a little joke. If someone were to break into your TV Room, they would most likely steal everything of value and perhaps shoot you while you sleep.

[ghporter]

I agree with msuper69-an intruder would not bother to try to break into a computer on your premises, but would take it away. The whole issue of physical security as an essential layer of computer security is that, simply put, if the intruder can touch your computer, it's his (in terms of security, anyway).