In this blog, we will go over some of the security features on MacOS that implemented by Apple to protect their users. Apple is known for their strict security policies to protect their customers throughout their environment from PC/Laptop (iMac/Macbook) to mobile devices such as Iphone, Ipad. Let’s start!
1. Privacy Controls
Computers often contain sensitive personal information that is needed to access different services over the internet. MacOS has controls in place to protect and help to reduce the chance of private information being leaked. The user now has the ability to restrict apps from accessing their microphone, webcam, pictures, calendars, notes, contacts and current location. Since MacOS Catalina, the user can even restrict access to disk itself or only allow access to a specific folder.
You can take a look by going to this location: Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Full Disk Access
2. Keychain
Keychain provides a secure way for users to manage and organize the sensitive information they need to store on their system. It also allows for syncing across various devices by connecting to the iCloud Keychain syncing service.
Keychain includes a Password Assistant feature which suggest passwords and grades the strength of your password as you are creating. It will color-code your password as you enter based on its strength and complexity as follows:
- Red : Week
- Yellow : Medium
- Green : Strong
3. Automatic Strong Passwords
As more services move to the cloud, the main mechanism to control and protect access is via password authentication. Weak passwords can easily be cracked by attackers, thus exposing a significant amount of sensitive information. Therefore, it is critical to enforce strong password control policy that make it much more and longer to crack.
By using the Safari web browser, macOS offers the ability to automatically generate a strong password when the user registers for an account on any website. The password will then be stored in Keychain and retrieved automatically when logging into the website. This feature is available when Keychain is synced with iCloud. Some 3rd party macOS applications also offer the integration with the automatic strong passwords feature to enhance user experience.
