AirDrop is very convenient, but sets the quarantine flag, which can break Apple’s installer apps. Here’s how to remove those flags in a couple of minutes.
Gatekeeper
How Catalina and Big Sur handle the first run of apps which have their quarantine flag set. With details of log entries seen in both steps needed for approval.
How macOS checks executable code before it’s loaded and run, in macOS 10.15 and 11.0. Covering integrity checks using hashes, and validity of the signing certificate, on Intel and ARM.
Although most were worried about Apple’s failure to deliver upgrades to Big Sur, the most serious problem left many users unable to launch any apps.
Most quarantine flags in your Mac aren’t on apps but documents. Details of how they’re added, what info they contain, and what they do.
Where to find its data files, what each contains and does, when XProtect is called to scan software, and a list of known malware it should detect.
Where does macOS store a list of revoked certificates, and how does it keep them up to date? The answer isn’t perhaps what you expect.
Oxygen rebreather diving sets have been involved in many diving deaths. They and layered security can be analysed using James Reason’s Swiss cheese model of causation.
How apps can opt to set the quarantine flag on files they create, and how macOS can override that to protect you.
Apple has updated XProtect so that it can detect the latest malware, ThiefQuest. Who will it benefit, though?
The Eclectic Light Company 