The safest place to get apps for your Mac is the App Store. Apple reviews each app in the App Store before it’s accepted and signs it to ensure that it hasn’t been tampered with or altered. If there’s ever a problem with an app, Apple can quickly remove it from the store.

1. Security Apps For Mac Os X
2. Apple Mac Os X Security Configuration Guide
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If you download and install apps from the internet or directly from a developer, macOS continues to protect your Mac. When you install Mac apps, plug-ins, and installer packages from outside the App Store, macOS checks the Developer ID signature to verify that the software is from an identified developer and that it has not been altered. By default, macOS Catalina also requires software to be notarized, so you can be confident that the software you run on your Mac doesn't contain known malware. Before opening downloaded software for the first time, macOS requests your approval to make sure you aren’t misled into running software you didn’t expect.

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Running software that hasn’t been signed and notarized may expose your computer and personal information to malware that can harm your Mac or compromise your privacy.

View the app security settings on your Mac

By default, the security and privacy preferences of your Mac are set to allow apps from the App Store and identified developers. For additional security, you can chose to allow only apps from the App Store.

In System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click General. Click the lock and enter your password to make changes. Select App Store under the header “Allow apps downloaded from.”

Open a developer-signed or notarized app

If your Mac is set to allow apps from the App Store and identified developers, the first time that you launch a new app, your Mac asks if you’re sure you want to open it.

An app that has been notarized by Apple indicates that Apple checked it for malicious software and none was detected:

Prior to macOS Catalina, opening an app that hasn't been notarized shows a yellow warning icon and asks if you're sure you want to open it:

If you see a warning message and can’t install an app

If you have set your Mac to allow apps only from the App Store and you try to install an app from elsewhere, your Mac will say that the app can't be opened because it was not downloaded from the App Store.*

If your Mac is set to allow apps from the App Store and identified developers, and you try to install an app that isn’t signed by an identified developer or—in macOS Catalina—notarized by Apple, you also see a warning that the app cannot be opened.

If you see this warning, it means that the app was not notarized, and Apple could not scan the app for known malicious software.

You may want to look for an updated version of the app in the App Store or look for an alternative app.

If macOS detects a malicious app

If macOS detects that an app has malicious content, it will notify you when you try to open it and ask you to move it to the Trash.

How to open an app that hasn’t been notarized or is from an unidentified developer

Running software that hasn’t been signed and notarized may expose your computer and personal information to malware that can harm your Mac or compromise your privacy. If you’re certain that an app you want to install is from a trustworthy source and hasn’t been tampered with, you can temporarily override your Mac security settings to open it.

In macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave, when an app fails to install because it hasn’t been notarized or is from an unidentified developer, it will appear in System Preferences > Security & Privacy, under the General tab. Click Open Anyway to confirm your intent to open or install the app.

The warning prompt reappears, and you can click Open.*

The app is now saved as an exception to your security settings, and you can open it in the future by double-clicking it, just as you can any authorized app.

*If you're prompted to open Finder: control-click the app in Finder, choose Open from the menu, and then click Open in the dialog that appears. Enter your admin name and password to open the app.

Gatekeeper is a security feature of the macOSoperating system by Apple.^[1][2] It enforces code signing and verifies downloaded applications before allowing them to run, thereby reducing the likelihood of inadvertently executing malware. Gatekeeper builds upon File Quarantine, which was introduced in Mac OS X Leopard and expanded in Mac OS X Snow Leopard.^[3][4] The feature originated in version 10.7.3 of Mac OS X Lion as the command-line utilityspctl.^[5][6] A graphical user interface was added in OS X Mountain Lion and later also in version 10.7.5 of Lion.^[7]

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Functions[edit]

Configuration[edit]

In the security & privacy panel of System Preferences, the user has three options:

Mac App Store

Allows only applications downloaded from the Mac App Store to be launched.

Mac App Store and identified developers

Allows applications downloaded from the Mac App Store and applications signed by certified Apple developers to be launched. This is the default setting since Mountain Lion.

Anywhere

Allows all applications to be launched. This effectively turns Gatekeeper off. This is the default setting in Lion. Since macOS Sierra, this option is hidden by default.^[8][9]

The command-line utility spctl provides granular controls, such as custom rules and individual or blanket permissions, as well as an option to turn Gatekeeper off.^[6]

Quarantine[edit]

Upon download of an application, a particular extended file attribute ('quarantine flag') can be added to the downloaded file.^[10] This attribute is added by the application that downloads the file, such as a web browser or email client, but is not usually added by common BitTorrent client software, such as Transmission, and application developers will need to implement this feature into their applications and is not implemented by the system. The system can also force this behavior upon individual applications using a signature-based system named Xprotect.^[11]

Execution[edit]

When the user attempts to open an application with such an attribute, the system will postpone the execution and verify whether it is:

• blacklisted,
• code-signed by Apple or a certified developer,
• the code-signed contents still match the signature.

Since Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the system keeps two blacklists to identify known malware or insecure software. The blacklists are updated periodically. If the application is blacklisted, then File Quarantine will refuse to open it and recommend to the user to move it to trash.^[11][12]

Gatekeeper will refuse to open the application if the code-signing requirements are not met. Apple can revoke the developer's certificate with which the application was signed and prevent further distribution.^[1][3]

Security Apps For Mac Os X

Once an application has passed File Quarantine or Gatekeeper, it will be allowed to run normally and will not be verified again.^[1][3]

Override[edit]

To override Gatekeeper, the user (acting as an administrator) either has to switch to a more lenient policy from the security & privacy panel of System Preferences or authorize a manual override for a particular application, either by opening the application from the context menu or by adding it with spctl.^[1]

Path randomization[edit]

Developers can sign disk images that can be verified as a unit by the system. In macOS Sierra, this allows developers to guarantee the integrity of all bundled files and prevent attackers from infecting and subsequently redistributing them. In addition, 'path randomization' executes application bundles from a random, hidden path and prevents them from accessing external files relative to their location. This feature is turned off if the application bundle originated from a signed installer package or disk image or if the user manually moved the application without any other files to another directory.^[8]

Implications[edit]

The effectiveness and rationale of Gatekeeper in combating malware have been acknowledged,^[3] but been met with reservations. Security researcher Chris Miller noted that Gatekeeper will verify the developer certificate and consult the known-malware list only when the application is first opened. Malware that already passed Gatekeeper will not be stopped.^[13] In addition, Gatekeeper will only verify applications that have the quarantine flag. As this flag is added by other applications and not by the system, any neglect or failure to do so does not trigger Gatekeeper. According to security blogger Thomas Reed, BitTorrent clients are frequent offenders of this. The flag is also not added if the application came from a different source, like network shares and USB flash drives.^[10][13] Questions have also been raised about the registration process to acquire a developer certificate and the prospect of certificate theft.^[14]

In September 2015, security researcher Patrick Wardle wrote about another shortcoming that concerns applications that are distributed with external files, such as libraries or even HTML files that can contain JavaScript.^[8] An attacker can manipulate those files and through them exploit a vulnerability in the signed application. The application and its external files can then be redistributed, while leaving the original signature of the application bundle itself intact. As Gatekeeper does not verify such individual files, the security can be compromised.^[15] With path randomization and signed disk images, Apple provided mechanisms to mitigate this issue in macOS Sierra.^[8]Compare git branches.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Apple Mac Os X Security Configuration Guide

1. ^ ^abcd'OS X: About Gatekeeper'. Apple. February 13, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
2. ^Siegler, MG (February 16, 2012). 'Surprise! OS X Mountain Lion Roars Into Existence (For Developers Today, Everyone This Summer)'. TechCrunch. AOL Inc. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
3. ^ ^abcdSiracusa, John (July 25, 2012). 'OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: the Ars Technica review'. Ars Technica. pp. 14–15. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
4. ^Reed, Thomas (April 25, 2014). 'Mac Malware Guide : How does Mac OS X protect me?'. The Safe Mac. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
5. ^Ullrich, Johannes (February 22, 2012). 'How to test OS X Mountain Lion's Gatekeeper in Lion'. Internet Storm Center. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
6. ^ ^ab'spctl(8)'. Mac Developer Library. Apple. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
7. ^'About the OS X Lion v10.7.5 Update'. Apple. February 13, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
8. ^ ^abcd'What's New in Security'. Apple Developer (Video). June 15, 2016. At 21:45. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
9. ^Cunningham, Andrew (June 15, 2016). 'Some nerdy changes in macOS and iOS 10: RAW shooting, a harsher Gatekeeper, more'. Ars Technica UK. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
10. ^ ^abReed, Thomas (October 6, 2015). 'Bypassing Apple's Gatekeeper'. Malwarebytes Labs. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
11. ^ ^abMoren, Dan (August 26, 2009). 'Inside Snow Leopard's hidden malware protection'. Macworld. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
12. ^'About the 'Are you sure you want to open it?' alert (File Quarantine / Known Malware Detection) in OS X'. Apple Support. March 22, 2016. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
13. ^ ^abForesman, Chris (February 17, 2012). 'Mac developers: Gatekeeper is a concern, but still gives power users control'. Ars Technica. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
14. ^Chatterjee, Surojit (February 21, 2012). 'OS X Mountain Lion Gatekeeper: Can it Really Keep Malware Out?'. International Business Times. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
15. ^Goodin, Dan. 'Drop-dead simple exploit completely bypasses Mac's malware Gatekeeper'. Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2016.

Mac Os X Security Guidelines Recommend