Questions tagged [macos]
macOS (formerly Mac OS X and OS X) is a series of Unix-based graphical interface operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc.
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Is MacOS encryption as secure if FileVault is switched on after installation?
Regarding turning on MacOS' FileVault after it was not turned on for installation, it says here...
If FileVault is turned on later — a process that is immediate since
the data was already encrypted — ...
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Backup to a remote Encrypted APFS drive mounted through Samba. Is this a sound plan?
Say I have a remote machine (something like a VPS) that I have no physical access or physical authority over other than a user on it (with root access). However, I'd like to do Time Machine backups on ...
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As a security engineer would you be okay recommending macapps.link?
I really like macapps.link as it helps me to quickly install a bunch of software after a fresh install. However, it doesn't have the transparency such Windows alternatives, like ninite or winget have.
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USB Drive Malware (.lnk extension) Suspicions: Seeking Advice on Next Steps
I recently encountered a concerning situation involving a USB drive, and I'm seeking guidance on how to proceed.
The scenario:
I used an older computer to extract photos from a DVD and transferred ...
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Is it normal for Apple push notifications to use the IRC protocol?
Seeing traffic like this on my network and wondering if it’s normal to see IRC being used in macOS push notifications and if anyone has any idea what the apparently escaped code (based on all of the ...
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Understanding ssh-rsa not in PubkeyAcceptedAlgorithms
I am having problem in connecting to an Amazon EC2 Linux instance from an old Mac OS machine running El Capitan. Unfortunately without any possibility to upgrade the OS.
Because all the other modern ...
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How can an application, using Apple's Secure Enclave on macOS or TPM on Windows, protect itself from other applications accessing its private keys?
I'm interested in using Apple's Secure Enclave on macOS or TPM on Windows to protect cryptographic keys used by an application from being accessed by other applications running with the same or higher ...
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Can virus survive macOS Recovery?
In what scenarios would a MacOS virus/malware/rootkit/etc (I use those terms to englobe all types of undesirable or malicious software or code) resist a format of the hard drive in MacOS recovery?
I ...
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File encrypted with OpenSSL cannot be decrypted with LibreSSL
First off, please don't turn this question into a LibreSSL vs OpenSSL holy war! I'm just trying to understand the functional differences between them, nothing more.
I originally asked this question on ...
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Password generation algorithm used by MacOS keychain
What algorithm does MacOS use in its keychain system to generate passwords? (using password assistant accessed through keychain app and using Safari keychain).
Does it access/is it the GUI for the /...
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Prevent processes from eavesdropping on my terminal input and output
I would like to use pass as a password manager on my Macbook Pro. It uses GnuPG for encrypting/decrypting the passwords. I decided I would use a separate MacOS user for that so that other running ...
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SSH authentication with GPG failing with a new Yubikey with the same gpg keys as the old one
I have a MacBook M1 on which I have been using a Yubikey 5 to authenticate SSH logins to various systems. I recently got a Yubikey 5C so I wouldn't have to use adapters. I moved my keys over to it ...
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Privacy related to company VPN
Last week my employer sent me a root cert to access the company’s VPN on my personal iMac. When I am connected to the VPN, I’m aware the VPN server can encrypt/decrypt the traffic, but I have some ...
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Apple Magic Keyboards in Public Spaces Man-in-the-middle
Let's imagine that I leave a Mac with wireless peripherals in a public space like a co-working space that might end up with other wireless devices nearby or physical access (say, at nighttime). My ...
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Is it possible to add a username a password to a hostname in /etc/hosts? [closed]
Is it possible to add a username a password to a hostname in /etc/hosts?
Like: a.b.c.d username:password@hostname
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How to prevent the recovery of deleted files without a full format of external HDD?
How can I securely delete selected files so they can’t be recovered, but without the full format of the external HDD? Is this even possible?
I’m using Mac OS.
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Is it safe to store data on APFS 256 AES encrypted external HDD disk?
I'm using a MacBook and want to store confidential data (financial documents, passwords, private photos, etc.) on an external HDD disk.
How safe is setting up APFS AES 256 encryption with disk ...
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Suspicious incoming connection attempts from random IPv6 addresses on local network on macOS
I've been using Little Snitch on my Macbook and I have since a long time a rule to alert on any incoming IPv6 connection, which would be suspicious since I use IPv4 only.
Since a couple of days I've ...
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Objectively, what can you do on kali that you can't do on a mac?
What is so special about kali?
Is there some suite that just run on kali and won't on other distros/mac?
Is it just marketed better to the infosec community?
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Can code be executed from copying the From field of an Outlook Email?
I received a suspicious email in Outlook and wanted to check the from email field to see if it was still a Microsoft address.
I right clicked and selected "copy address" on the From field ...
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SSL certificate not standards compliance in Safari
I created a certificate authority on my MacBook, and I'm using it to create a wildcard certificate. I have the root CA added as trusted into my system keychain. On Safari, it complains that the ...
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VPN does not hide true location on the Maps app on Macbook
I am using a VPN (NordVPN). I am seeing the VPN IP in browsers - this is ok. However when I check the Maps apps on my mac, it shows my true location. How can I ensure that my true location is hidden ...
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OS on external drive -- is it safe?
So I'm installing macOS to my external hard drive partition, so I can have a 100% clean environment where I can engage with cryptocurrencies. (Exchanges, stable coins, protocols, putting actual money ...
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Compromised machine. Should I create a partition or volume to install a clean OS?
My goal is to create a 100% clean environment where I can interact with cryptocurrencies. For that, I can partition my disk or I can create a volume. Which one should I prefer?
Some context about the ...
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Is Mac OS safer to use as far as firmware rootkits, cold boot attacks and evil maid?
Windows machines have things like TPM and Secure boot to help protect against firmware rootkits, but is Mac any safer in these regards? How does Mac work in the boot stage and is it any less ...
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Need help cracking a MacOS Catalina password
I have found the hashes for the stored passwords on my mac, I do not have the administrator passwords, I do have the hashes coming from the /var folder. I have tried decrypting it using hashcat but it ...
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Cipher suite choice on macOS on Apple Silicon
I have a postfix mail server that accepts these cipher suites:
tls_high_cipherlist=ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:
ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:
...
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Virus from Embedded Image in Mac Mail?
I'm using macOS High Sierra, and mac Mail version 11.3. I have a script that uses the Twitter API to continually fetch tweets in real-time and send the contents of each of these tweets, including any ...
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When I visit an http://gofile.me/ link, how much information to I provide to the NAS server owner?
There are files I need from a heavy NAS user and they've given me a link of the form http://gofile.me/xxxxx/xxxxxxxxx If my laptop running the Chrome browser in macOS is connected to the internet via ...
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Is it possible to bruteforce Yubikey's PIN when using it as PIV/Smart card?
I'm considering using Yubikey to log in to my Mac. However, in my threat model I have to assume that it will fall into the wrong hands, hence the question: does Yubikey have any mechanisms that ...
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Read files protected with System Integrity Protection with sudo
I had a debate with a friend about the security model in new OS X versions. OS X El Capitan and newer have the System Integrity Protection security feature which protects aspects of the OS even from ...
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How secure is OpenCore Legacy Patcher?
My MacBookPro doesn't get major updates anymore, but the hardware still works well.
I came accross OpenCore Legacy Patcher, which allows to install recent versions of MacOs onto older macs through ...
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Does MacOS Filevault + Mac hardware obviate lengthy login passwords?
Take the combination of an encrypted disk with a secure enclave chip that never exposes an internal Key Encryption Key and throttles or prevents too many password guesses.
Seems to me that this should ...
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Postgres.app security on a Mac?
I'm wondering if there are any security concerns with installing PostgreSQL on a Mac using the app?
https://www.postgresql.org/download/macosx/
I had a look at the data folder and it's owned by me ...
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Is Xcode vulnerable due to log4j?
After the log4j vulnerability was announced, I scanned my Mac to see if any applications were using it.
find / -name "*log4j*" 2>/dev/null
Here's the output that indicates that Xcode has ...
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hashcat skipping gpu even if it's recognizing the device and the driver is installed
I'm trying to run hashcat on a MacBook Pro.
Running hashcat -I to check the devices' informations yields:
hashcat (v6.2.5-38-g8b61f60e8) starting in backend information mode
OpenCL Info:
============
...
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Mac os x installation partition integrity
Let's suppose i lend my new macbook to a (dishonest) friend.
This is a new fresh macbook, just unboxed.
My friend does what ever he wants on this macbook.
One month later, he gives me back the macbook....
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Can someone on same wifi access my computer? [duplicate]
I was connected to a hotel wifi and airport wifi last week. Some of the files in my Downloads folder now has been compromised (soft keys stolen).
Can someone connected to same wifi gain access to my ...
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Can work system admin remote into my personal Mac when I connect to work VPN? [duplicate]
I usually connect to my work VPN on my personal Mac and then use Windows Remote Desktop client to access my work computer.
Today on my Mac while disconnected from the VPN I noticed the username/...
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How to know which IP address is used for my DNS queries on macOS?
I'm not an expert, only have basic knowledge about all this but I'd like to understand what's going on so please bear with me.
I'm currently using a VPN (IKEv2 protocol) on a macOS system and I can ...
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How does FileVault work with Time Machine?
Let's suppose a Mac OS computer with two users: user1 and user2. These users are not administrators. FileVault is enabled.
The computer is connected to an empty external hard drive for Time Machine.
...
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Hybrid-Analysis.com indicates the website that my macOS system is contacting is likely malicious
Backstory:
I just upgraded my MacBook from OS X 10.11.6 to the most updated version of macOS, 10.14.6 Mojave. I also have the Little Snitch network filter installed. I know nearly nothing about ...
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Safe or Unsafe to Store Passwords in Chrome on MacOS?
I've seen conflicting opinions on this, more than the below, but i.e.
Unsafe: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-you-should-never-allow-your-web-browser-to-save-your-passwords/
Safe: https://...
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Can you create a fake (malicious) Ubuntu iso
Recently I got into an exchange with someone on social media about the security of Linux versus OSX and Windows. I stated that it is possible (and probable) that someone could code a low level back ...
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How is my Macbook connecting to my WiFi APs without asking for a password?
When I work away from home (and home wifi) I use my phone's hotspot to connect my Macbook to the internet. However, it's always surprised me that I just have to click on the name of the hotspot to ...
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MacBook Pro is Powered On but Locked. Is my VeraCrypt data Readable if Laptop Stolen?
Secenario
Consider the case of a MacBook Pro with FileVault active. The computer is on and I'm properly logged on.
I frequently need to access sensitive data located in text files on an encrypted ...
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Is Mac OS Big Sur Spying?
I would like to know if macOS "Big Sur" sends unencrypted OCSP requests. I am a newbie and not aware of technical stuff, but when I came across Jeffrey Paul's article, I am a bit concerned ...
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How to verify a x509 certificate from Apple on a Ubuntu server?
I'm trying to verify GameCenter authentication on an iOS app with GameKit. The fetchItems API returns a URL for the public key needed to do this.
Steps 3 and 4 of that API say:
Use the publicKeyURL ...
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How can a non-admin program cover your entire screen with a window?
This year, since many students are online, College Board (the company that administers AP Exams in the US, along with the SAT) recently released its Digital Testing App. Once installed, and going ...
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How best to crack password for MacOS encrypted .dmg, given I know the majority of the password content? [closed]
Encrypted .dmg on MacOS High Sierra, tested password before sending for repair. Upon return from repair, password does not work. The possibilities I see are the .dmg file is corrupted, or I'm wrong ...
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