There’s more to Apple’s Mac app notarization than that

“There’s been a lot of discussion about the possible benefits and costs of notarization recently. Given that Apple’s Notary Service has been operational since last June, and most details were announced at WWDC 2018, this might seem surprising. You may also have been surprised to read the knowledgeable and insightful Jeff Johnson dismissing much of this as of no benefit, and largely ‘security theatre,'” Howard Oakley writes for Eclectic Light Company. “I’m going to disagree here, largely on the grounds that those opinions are based on a narrow view of what happens in Mojave.”
“There are, and always will be, lots of ways of coming into contact with malware. Apple is, like all platform vendors, constrained in what it can do to protect us from every means of attack. But among the most serious, and potentially controllable, are hijacked legitimate apps,” Oakley writes. “In macOS 10.15, Apple is attempting to control that by restricting the user to running apps which are either supplied by its App Store, or which it notarizes on behalf of those developers who choose or have to distribute outside Apple’s direct control.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, this is a good thing. The world’s most secure desktop operating system gets even more secure! The security and safety offered by the App Store for iOS apps is the model and is unmatched on any other platform.
SEE ALSO:
Apple edges closer to cursory code review for all Mac apps – April 24, 2019
Apple will soon require all macOS apps to be notarized – April 9, 2019
Apple’s macOS third-party app clampdown probably not as bad as rumored – March 22, 2019
Apple locking down the Mac? macOS 10.15 said to require a developer ID certificate – March 20, 2019