Introduced with OS X Mountain Lion, Gatekeeper is generating
a lot of questions for Apple Mac Support London. Here’s a quick overview of
what Gatekeeper does and why it’s so helpful.
Gatekeeper is designed to prevent the installation of malware onto your Mac. It’s Apple support solution to the trouble Trojan apps are causing for users on most operating systems. iPhones and iPads are safe from Trojan apps because iOS limits installation to apps from the Apple App store. Since Mac users can download and install apps from all over the internet, not just the App Store, they are more at risk of accidentally installing malicious software. Once installed, most Trojan apps are very hard to get rid of and usually require the services of a Macintosh Support London specialist.
Apple has developed Gatekeeper for OS X 10.8 to help users protect themselves. Gatekeeper operates in the background, only alerting you when something is wrong. How often you receive these alerts depends on your setup.
In the Security and Privacy segment of System Preferences are three “allow applications downloaded from” settings.
• The Mac App Store choice will only allow installation of software from the App Store. This is the safest and most limiting choice.
• Choosing Mac Support Store and identified developers enables the installation of software from the App store and from the web, so long as the developer is registered with Apple. This is Mountain Lion’s default setting.
• Selecting Anywhere will let you install any software, from any source. This option grants the most freedom and no protection.
Apple urges developers who want to dispense software from outside of the App Store to register with Apple and get a certificate to use in identifying their apps. If someone tampers with the software code before you download it, this certificate will be broken and installation will be denied. At the same time, Apple can ban developers who dispense malware on purpose, thus preventing Mountain Lion from installing that developer’s apps. This does not guarantee that malicious developers can’t get an Apple certificate; it just means Mac users are protected if those developers are later found to be distributing Trojan apps.
Though the Anywhere option might seem good because it allows the most freedom, it is not necessarily the wisest choice. With this setting, it is very easy to install Trojan software by accident, potentially causing damage to your system and necessitating a call to Mac Support London specialists. The default Mac App Store and identified developers provides a happy medium between top security and no security at all.
If you want to download apps from developers without an Apple certificate, it is pretty simple to override Gatekeeper for specific apps. You can do this by right-clicking or control+clicking the app in question and choosing Open in the menu. A Gatekeeper warning will pop up, but you will have the choice to ignore it and install the app. After that, Gatekeeper won’t worry about that app. It’s an easy solution all ‘round.
Gatekeeper is designed to prevent the installation of malware onto your Mac. It’s Apple support solution to the trouble Trojan apps are causing for users on most operating systems. iPhones and iPads are safe from Trojan apps because iOS limits installation to apps from the Apple App store. Since Mac users can download and install apps from all over the internet, not just the App Store, they are more at risk of accidentally installing malicious software. Once installed, most Trojan apps are very hard to get rid of and usually require the services of a Macintosh Support London specialist.
Apple has developed Gatekeeper for OS X 10.8 to help users protect themselves. Gatekeeper operates in the background, only alerting you when something is wrong. How often you receive these alerts depends on your setup.
In the Security and Privacy segment of System Preferences are three “allow applications downloaded from” settings.
• The Mac App Store choice will only allow installation of software from the App Store. This is the safest and most limiting choice.
• Choosing Mac Support Store and identified developers enables the installation of software from the App store and from the web, so long as the developer is registered with Apple. This is Mountain Lion’s default setting.
• Selecting Anywhere will let you install any software, from any source. This option grants the most freedom and no protection.
Apple urges developers who want to dispense software from outside of the App Store to register with Apple and get a certificate to use in identifying their apps. If someone tampers with the software code before you download it, this certificate will be broken and installation will be denied. At the same time, Apple can ban developers who dispense malware on purpose, thus preventing Mountain Lion from installing that developer’s apps. This does not guarantee that malicious developers can’t get an Apple certificate; it just means Mac users are protected if those developers are later found to be distributing Trojan apps.
Though the Anywhere option might seem good because it allows the most freedom, it is not necessarily the wisest choice. With this setting, it is very easy to install Trojan software by accident, potentially causing damage to your system and necessitating a call to Mac Support London specialists. The default Mac App Store and identified developers provides a happy medium between top security and no security at all.
If you want to download apps from developers without an Apple certificate, it is pretty simple to override Gatekeeper for specific apps. You can do this by right-clicking or control+clicking the app in question and choosing Open in the menu. A Gatekeeper warning will pop up, but you will have the choice to ignore it and install the app. After that, Gatekeeper won’t worry about that app. It’s an easy solution all ‘round.
No comments:
Post a Comment