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neilBar's avatar
neilBar
Helpful | Level 5
2 years ago

compromised? stolen mac timemachine disk - what does "localdomain" mean in 'connected devices' list?

Hi

I'm bit worried, my mac time machine discs were stolen last week (unencrypted) so I changed my dropbox password (and many others)

10 am this morning, I was prompted to check the devices connected in my dropbox/security because re-logging in means I reached the 3 device limit. I saw a mac I didn’t recognise 

 

"ChristopersMBP4.localdomain" is nothing to do with me. I did already change my dropbox password yesterday after the disc was stolen.

I normally have a Mac mIni connected which was not listed, so maybe this is an error. 

However - the list did state "localdomain" I dont know how that differs from ".local" within dropbox

- googling's not helping me

also - my wifi password was changed earlier this morning. 

I immediately clicked the bin in dropbox/security to disconnect "ChristopersMBP4.localdomain". 

My Mini was restarting at the time, when it was done I was asked to log into dropbox. 

Now the mini is connected as: "neils-mini.local"  

not ".localdomain"

does anyone know what this.localdomain" means please? Am I in trouble?

 

Heres a screenshot with the spurious connected mac.

 

thanks so much

Neil

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  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    2 years ago

    Hi neilBar, the names don't really mean much, since this is the name pulled from the device itself when first making the connection to the Dropbox server. 

     

    If you hover over the i icon, you can see the IP address of the device itself. If it matches one of your own, then it could be another device you have on your premises, or immediately location.

     

    If you don't recognize the device, you can simply remove it from your account. If you're on a paid plan, you can also remotely wipe the Dropbox folder on that device at the same time.

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    2 years ago

    Hi neilBar 

    If its asked to reconnect after you disconnected it, no, you are not in trouble its the same device connected again, 

     

    Note that there is no way anybody could use your Time Machine discs to connect to Dropbox - they would need the actual username and password. 

    • neilBar's avatar
      neilBar
      Helpful | Level 5
      2 years ago

      Hi Mark

      thanks for helping

      to clarify - 

      the device that was listed as connected was "ChristopersMBP4.localdomain"

      I dumped it,

      Now the mini is logged in connected as: "neils-mini.local"  

      not as ".localdomain"

      Doyou still think it’s the same device? why the different name and .local -v- .localdomain?

       

      I'd love to know how "localdomain" differs from "local" 

      Would "ChristopersMBP4.localdomain" have to be on my network? Other macs here show as just - .local

       

      I think they could theoretically log into dropbox because of saved browser passwords - its scaring me that someones in my data

       

      thanks lots for the help

       

      • Mark's avatar
        Mark
        Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
        2 years ago

        The simple answer is 'thats what your Mac was called at that time'. Updating the OS can change that. There is nothing sinister about it. 

         

        If they have access to saved browser info then changing will help but you also need to update things like emails etc. Consider 2FA as well.

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