| Cult of Mac

Can’t launch your apps on macOS Catalina? Here’s the fix

By

no entry sign
Catalina makes opening non-approved apps scary.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

macOS 10.15 Catalina is ruthless about launching unknown apps. Unless your app comes direct from the App Store, or the app’s developer got the app notarized by Apple, it won’t launch. Double click on it, and you’ll see a warning — and nothing else. There’s no option to say you trust the app and launch it despite Catalina’s warnings.

But you can still launch those apps. It’s just that Apple hides the controls in the hope that you’ll give up. It’s petty, and it shows a lack of respect for you, the user. However, it’s also dead easy to fix this problem. Let’s see how to launch any app on macOS Catalina.

Apple will soon require all macOS apps to be notarized

By

iMac
Apple wants to make macOS as safe as possible.
Photo: Apple

Apple has confirmed that all macOS apps will need to be notarized to be accepted by Gatekeeper after its Mojave 10.14.5 update.

The requirement applies to new and updated apps and all software from developers who are new to distributing with Developer ID. In a future version of macOS, notarization will be required by default.

Apple urges devs to get macOS apps notarized as free of malware

By

With MacOS Mojave, notarized apps install more easily because they're guaranteed malware free.
With MacOS Mojave, notarized apps install more easily because they're guaranteed malware free.
Photo: Apple

There’s a new method to let Mac users know that the software they’re installing isn’t loaded with malware. It’s called notarized apps, and Apple urges developers to use it. 

Right now, getting apps notarized is optional. Eventually, it’ll be a requirement. That’s a bonus for Mac users.

OSX.Bella trojan discovered installing backdoors into Macs

By

15 inch MacBook Pro Silver
It might be time to update your passwords again.
Photo: Apple

Security researchers have discovered a nasty bit of Mac malware similar to OSX.Dok trojan, which can bypass Apple’s GateKeeper feature.

The new bug, dubbed OSX.Bella, behaves and distributes itself in a completely different manner than OSX.Dok. But once installed, it executes a script that’s just as damaging.

Gatekeeper won’t stop this ‘major scale’ Mac malware

By

The OSX/Dok malware forces you to install a bogus OS X update.
The OSX/Dok malware forces you to install a bogus OS X update.
Image: Check Point

OSX/Dok, a new strain of “major scale” malware targeting macOS users, can bypass the Gatekeeper feature that’s designed to block malicious software.

The newly identified trojan, which prevents you from doing anything on your Mac until you install a bogus software update, also goes undetected by many antivirus programs.

Mac’s malware protection still needs patching

By

hack
143 million customers in the U.S. may have been impacted by the attack.
Photo: Colin / Wikimedia Commons

We all know Apple’s are much safer than Windows PCs at keeping out the malware, right?

Researcher Patrick Wardle has been trying to make sure of that for months now as he pokes holes in Apple’s current protection scheme, Gatekeeper.

In fact, he’s gotten past Apple’s latest patch to its software security system in literally five minutes.

Super-simple exploit lets malware creep onto your Mac

By

It's really easy to bypass Mac's Gatekeeper.
It's really easy to bypass Mac's Gatekeeper.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s Gatekeeper feature was designed to keep even the most advanced users from accidentally installing malicious software on their computers, but a super-simple exploit lets hackers sneak malware onto your Mac.

The exploit was discovered by Patrick Wardle, director of research at security firm Synack. Wardle found that the exploit is made possible thanks to a key design shortcoming in Gatekeeper that lets an attacker use a binary file already trusted by Apple to execute malicious files.

Here’s how it works: