While organizations tend to invest ample human and financial resources in securing their Wintel environments, this same diligence is often not applied equally across macOS environments. The increased enterprise deployment of macOS is being equally enjoyed by malware authors and threat actors looking to exploit Mac security oversights across the enterprise. Consequently, the attention of IT organizations, long enjoyed by Windows, is now being cast towards macOS. In fact, a recently published Parallels survey reported that 55.7% of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) now use or permit the use of Macs. The likelihood of receiving a silver, unibody laptop on your first day at work is higher today than ever before. IBM, one of the first large enterprises to offer macOS devices, has been a major proponent of Apple in the Desktop estate.
Today, there are many notable examples of large organizations across all verticals who provide macOS devices to their employees. MacOS devices were once only seen in relatively young companies that lacked legacy infrastructure baggage, but the tide is quickly turning. However, momentum for Macs continues to erode this once rigid adherence to Windows-only IT stacks across enterprise, non-profit, and public agency environments. Organizations once stood firm against ever-growing employee demand for Mac devices. Apple has proven itself a force to be reckoned with in the business world, just as it is amongst consumers in the personal computing space.
#SECURITY UPDATES FOR MAC OS X WINDOWS#
The dominance of Microsoft Windows in the enterprise desktop computing space has for so long been the norm that it would be easy, albeit a mistake, to think the other players in the space fit within the ‘niche’ category. Mac Endpoints are No Longer “Niche” in the Enterprise We will also cover common macOS security approaches, challenges, and pitfalls found in many organizations today. In this blog, I will explore macOS security, with a focus on privileged access and credential management. In many cases, the native macOS platform tools may not be comprehensive enough, and homegrown tools unique to each organization rarely scale. This is not to say macOS is unproven it is more a reflection of gaps introduced when an industry of security experts who have focused on Microsoft technology is pushed to transition and up-skill in new technology.Īchieving the basics of endpoint security, such as managing Mac user privileges and securing privileged access and privileged credentials, is relatively new ground for any macOS security professional. Today, many organizations confront a trade-off between the benefits of offering employees their choice of operating system, and the potential security gaps they may be unwittingly introducing. Reports and disclosures of vulnerabilities and macOS exploits are no longer uncommon news. The period of relative security through obscurity enjoyed by macOS has long since passed. Today, privileged access security deficiencies usually lie at the heart of macOS security breaches. Exploits targeting Apple’s operating system increasingly yield good returns for threat actors. As macOS grows more prevalent amongst organizations, threat actors have taken notice.
Security for Mac endpoints is an increasingly critical, but typically overlooked, need for enterprises.
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