How Gatekeeper Protects Your Mac

In OS X you can use Gatekeeper to protect your Mac from malicious software. Most users should have it set to only allow apps from the Mac App Store. When you do so, it is easy to allow other apps on a case-by-case basis, so even export users should consider this setting as the default.

Comments: 22 Responses to “How Gatekeeper Protects Your Mac”

    Mike
    8 years ago

    Hi, Thanks for a useful and informative article. I certainly gained a lot of useful information from it.
    Keep up the good work.
    Best wishes
    Mike

    Barbara
    8 years ago

    Wow! Am I glad I listened, watched & made the necessary change! Thanks for
    the pre-need help.

    Molly
    8 years ago

    Love the security of knowing this, and being able to control and protect my Mac even more. Thanks, Gary.

    C.
    8 years ago

    Just moved to El Capitan from Snow Leopard (!). I really appreciate getting this information. Just this week, I detected some malware (Nariabox and Montageobax). Glad to know about this setting.

    8 years ago

    C: If you somehow installed Nariabox and Montageobax (malware trojans, I believe) then you need to review your security procedures. See http://macmost.com/virus-and-malware and also consider getting my Mac Security Book (link on the left side of page).

    Freddie Pineiro
    8 years ago

    I also found this very informative. By the way, there is another way to open those apps, you right click it and it gives the option to open the app and tell Gatekeeper to allow it to open in the future without having to change it settings.

    Robyn
    8 years ago

    Great advice Gary.

    jimmy
    8 years ago

    Thank you for sharing your knowledge. It makes a huge difference to my computing experiences..

    Tanis
    8 years ago

    Did not know about this. Good lesson to learn. Many thanks your videos are very informative

    Raiford
    8 years ago

    Really good advice. Could you go through all the rest of the Security and Privacy setting as well. I use Archicad and have it set to block incoming connections, but Archicad is behaving oddly. Why would it need to connect to the internet?

    John Roberts
    8 years ago

    Checked my security prefs to find the middle option already set. I have Macbook 2015 model. I haven't change anything, Must have been shipped that way.
    John R

    8 years ago

    Raiford: Archicad?

    Jean H
    8 years ago

    Thanks Gary, This prompted me to check my security level. Apparently at some point I had chosen "anywhere". Oops! It is now corrected.

    Simon
    8 years ago

    I currently use Avast Free Antivirus (Mac Version). Not sure whether it provides real time protection or not. Hasn't done any harm so far.

    Raj
    8 years ago

    Good advice. Thank you!

    Christine
    8 years ago

    Thank you so much for this information. I'm a new Apple user, and it's really helpful to have things explained like this. I'm also really impressed with how Apple does this!

    Chrissy
    8 years ago

    Good advice.Thanks

    Gary(not Rosenzweig)
    8 years ago

    For Macbook users: Keep in mind that Gatekeeper and other security features like xprotect do not get security updates while running on battery power. As far as I can tell from the messages in Console, they don't even check for updates until you plug in the charger. Mavericks and Yosemite did it fairly soon after connecting power, El Capitan takes awhile longer to get around to checking. You can see what updates you have recently gotten by looking at the System Report under About This Mac.

    Margie
    8 years ago

    Thank you Gary. Really informative.

    Helen
    8 years ago

    VERY important information. Just using a Mac gives me a more secure feeling than if I were on another platform. I have Yosemite and the system preference is called "Security & Privacy" on older operating systems.

    Peter
    8 years ago

    On Yosemite and earlier, I could just hold down the control key and click the app icon and then click the Open button. Doesn't El Capitan allow that feature anymore? I enjoy all your useful knowledge. Thank you for sharing with us!

    Lazaro Jordan
    8 years ago

    This video was very useful. You are really good at explaining complex things in a simple matter, Thank you So Much!

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