{"id":79600,"date":"2018-06-06T08:38:49","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T15:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/?p=79600"},"modified":"2019-06-15T02:50:04","modified_gmt":"2019-06-15T09:50:04","slug":"macos-mojave-whats-new-in-security-and-privacy-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/macos-mojave-whats-new-in-security-and-privacy-features\/","title":{"rendered":"macOS Mojave: What’s new in security and privacy features"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote\u00a0on Monday, June 4, 2018,\u00a0Apple executives and engineers took the stage to share what’s coming in the next versions of macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned to\u00a0The Mac Security Blog for more coverage of WWDC 2018<\/a>, coming soon!<\/em><\/p>\n

Among other things, Apple announced a new version of its Mac operating system, macOS Mojave 10.14, which includes some\u00a0nifty new consumer-oriented features including\u00a0Dark Mode and Desktop Stacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While macOS Mojave has a lot of great new features, this article will specifically focus\u00a0on the new security and privacy features coming soon to Macs near you.<\/p>\n

But before we get to the good stuff\u2026 first, the bad news.<\/p>\n

The Bad News: Mojave May Not Run on Your Mac<\/h3>\n

\"\"In contrast with iOS 12<\/a>, which\u00a0maintains compatibility with every device that can run iOS 11,\u00a0unfortunately macOS Mojave drops support for almost every\u00a0Mac first sold\u00a0between late 2009 and late\u00a02011.<\/p>\n

In other words,\u00a0just because your Mac can run macOS High Sierra doesn’t necessarily mean that your Mac can run macOS Mojave.<\/p>\n

RELATED: What to Do if Your Mac Can’t Run macOS High Sierra<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This isn’t really a surprise. Apple\u00a0has recently seemed to follow two-year cycles, where OS X El Capitan 10.11\u00a0(which was marketed as a refinement of\u00a0OS X Yosemite 10.10) maintained its predecessor’s Mac\u00a0compatibility, after which macOS Sierra 10.12 dropped support for certain Macs and macOS High Sierra 10.13 supported the same models as its predecessor. Furthermore, Apple\u00a0recently added several Macs\u00a0originally released between 2009\u00a0and 2011 to its list of vintage and obsolete products<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As of now, Apple’s official system requirements for macOS Mojave include “Macs introduced in mid-2012 or later, plus 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro models with recommended Metal-capable graphics cards,” according to a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the bright side, at least Apple is supporting\u00a0an additional year’s worth of Macs\u00a0as compared with iOS devices; the upcoming iOS 12<\/a> will only be compatible with iPhone,\u00a0iPad, and iPod touch models released in 2013 or later.<\/p>\n

Safari Minimizes Fingerprinting and Tracking<\/h3>\n

\"\"Apple announced\u00a0in the WWDC keynote that\u00a0macOS Mojave’s version of Safari minimizes sites’ fingerprinting and tracking capabilities.<\/p>\n

Web sites\u00a0often embed “social media Like buttons, Share buttons, or comment widgets” that Apple says can track you without your permission. In some cases (like\u00a0when sites load Facebook’s Like button\u00a0and you haven’t recently signed\u00a0out of the social network),\u00a0embedded\u00a0objects\u00a0can\u00a0even identify you by name. Apple\u00a0is implementing a new feature called Intelligent Tracking Protection to\u00a0help users avoid this kind of tracking. Similar privacy functionality will also be included in iOS 12<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

macOS Mojave and\u00a0iOS 12\u00a0(shown here) will both\u00a0include Intelligent Tracking Protection\u00a0features. Image: Apple<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

\"FlashSites can also track you by\u00a0observing your browser configuration\u00a0as well as the fonts and plug-ins you have installed\u00a0(to learn\u00a0more about how this kind of tracking works, see the EFF’s Panopticlick<\/a>\u00a0site). Apple said in the keynote that Safari will only\u00a0allow sites to see “a simplified system profile,” will only disclose\u00a0the operating system’s preinstalled\u00a0fonts (not any third-party fonts you may have installed), and will no longer support legacy browser plug-ins\u00a0like Adobe Flash Player and Oracle Java, both\u00a0of which are deprecated by their developers.\u00a0This simplified profile\u00a0reduces the amount of information that sites can automatically learn about your computer and that\u00a0could in some cases uniquely identify you.<\/p>\n

\"\"Apple’s new built-in tracking protections are\u00a0laudable, but they don’t prevent all potential\u00a0ways\u00a0that sites can\u00a0track your activity online. Privacy-conscious users may still want to consider using Private Browsing windows,\u00a0or third-party layers of protection, e.g. a\u00a0tracker-blocking\u00a0extension like uBlock Origin<\/a>\u00a0(or\u00a0a privacy-focused DNS service like 1.1.1.1<\/a>\u00a0if you’re more concerned about your Internet service provider or government snooping on you).<\/p>\n

\"\"Based on Apple’s practices in recent years, Apple will probably\u00a0release macOS Mojave’s version of Safari for the two previous versions of macOS, High Sierra and Sierra. If that turns out to be true, then even if your Mac\u00a0can’t run\u00a0macOS Mojave, you\u00a0may\u00a0still get to benefit from the new privacy features\u00a0coming to Safari.<\/p>\n

Password Management Improvements<\/h3>\n

\"\"For users of\u00a0macOS Mojave, Safari can create and store strong passwords for you, and it can autofill\u00a0a\u00a0password for you\u00a0when you return to\u00a0a site. If you have reused existing passwords\u00a0across multiple services (which is a bad idea<\/a>), Safari Preferences will\u00a0flag those passwords to make it easier for\u00a0you\u00a0to find and\u00a0update them.<\/p>\n

Camera and Microphone Now Require Your Permission<\/h3>\n

Beginning with macOS Mojave, Apple is finally doing something to prevent Mac apps from being able to use your camera\u00a0or microphone without your permission.\u00a0The first time\u00a0an app tries to\u00a0see or hear you, you’ll be presented with a dialog box that says “[App name] would like to access the [microphone or camera]” and will present the user with two options: “Don’t Allow” or “OK.”<\/p>\n

\"\"

In Mojave, apps must ask permission to use your camera or microphone. Image: Apple<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

For those\u00a0who\u00a0want this feature now and can’t wait for macOS Mojave (and for those whose Macs aren’t compatible with Mojave), Objective-See has a third-party utility called OverSight<\/a> that offers similar functionality\u00a0and supports several previous versions of macOS.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Apple executive Craig Federighi touts privacy enhancements in macOS Mojave. Image: Apple<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Apple also announced that other categories of data, such as your Messages history and Mail database, will be protected in a similar manner to\u00a0macOS Mojave’s new camera and microphone permissions. Other\u00a0privacy controls noted in Apple’s\u00a0keynote\u00a0include Location, Contacts, Photos, Calendar, Reminders, Safari data, Time Machine backups<\/a>, iTunes device backups (to help mitigate trustjacking<\/a>, perhaps?), Locations and routines, and System cookies.<\/p>\n

When Will macOS\u00a0Mojave Be Available?<\/h3>\n

Apple says that macOS\u00a0Mojave 10.14 and\u00a0its other new operating systems will be available in the fall, which could mean anytime between September 22 and December 21, 2018. Apple usually releases major macOS and iOS updates in September.<\/p>\n

For compatible Macs, macOS Mojave will be a free upgrade, available\u00a0via the Mac App Store.<\/p>\n

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can join Apple’s\u00a0developer program<\/a>\u00a0for $99 (U.S.) to get access to the\u00a0developer preview versions now. Or you can sign up\u00a0for Apple’s\u00a0public beta program<\/a>\u00a0(free) and get\u00a0access to beta versions of macOS, iOS, and tvOS in “late June.”<\/p>\n

More WWDC 2018 Coverage<\/h3>\n

Don’t miss Intego’s\u00a0other featured articles covering the WWDC announcements!<\/p>\n

Why iOS 12 Is Huge for Security and Privacy<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n