Apple This

An interesting bit of news came out of Apple recently as the company sent out an email to registered developers that is definitely going to raise some eyebrows. As of March 2012, Apple will require all apps submitted to the company’s app store to implement sandboxing. However, this isn’t an entirely new development as Apple was originally going to require sandboxing starting in November of this year. It appears as if Apple delayed the initiation of the rule for another few months, though the fact that the requirement will exist at all may pose problems for some Mac developers.

Many people are wondering what is prompting this action from Apple and the answer is security. According to the company in a recent statement, “Sandboxing your app is a great way to protect systems and users by limiting the resources apps can access and making it more difficult for malicious software to compromise users’ systems. As of March 1, 2012 all apps submitted to the Mac App Store must implement sandboxing.” While the company’s intentions are noble, the all-or-nothing approach is potentially problematic for sure.

Over recent months, a plethora of some of the biggest developers in the app world have been pointing out the flaws and shortcomings of Apple’s sandboxing approach. These include a buggy Carbon implementation as well as questionable support for most AppleScript-centric automation tools. Other big names in the app community, like Jason Snell and Andy Ihnatko, have also chipped in their two cents with both parties concerned that sandboxing may eventually lead to a dumbing down of the Mac App Store options or the death of AppleScript entirely.

On a lighter note, Apple does allow for a few exceptions to its upcoming sandboxing policy. According to the company, “If your app requires access to sandboxed system resources, you will need to include justification for using those entitlements as part of the submission to the Mac App Store.” However, Apple did follow this up with some bad news saying, “Apps that are being re-engineered to be sandbox compatible may request additional temporary entitlements. These entitlements are granted on a short-term basis and will be phased out over time.”

However, it may do everybody some good to look at the fact that unlike the iOS platform, the Mac App Store is not the only legitimate platform to get apps onto your Mac computer. On the other hand, that probably doesn’t do much for developers who have found the Mac App Store an easier and more lucrative channel for app distribution as opposed to the conventional methods. But then again, who knows how long it will be before Apple restricts all apps on Mac devices to go through the Mac App Store and not another platform?

With all that said, this policy is a bit extreme, much like the rule of “no third-party IDEs” for the iOS platform Apple made last year. This policy also seems to be more like something a committee created that seemed like a good idea at the time. However, it will more likely than not be modified or deprecated once the real-world implications for the Mac platform become evident. The simple fact that Apple has already delayed the launch of the rule by five months indicates that Apple may be working on further reprieves or workarounds for developers with affected products.

Source: TUAW – Apple to require sandboxing in Mac App Store apps as of March 2012

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One of the premier cyber security companies in the world, LIGATT Security International, has just announced that their flagship product LocatePC, which just so happens to be the most downloaded computer tracking program on the internet, is now available for all Mac computers under Apple.

LocateMac, as it is being called, will allow a user to track their Apple laptop or PC in the extremely unfortunate event that it gets stolen. Apple users will be able to track their computer anywhere in the world with the LocateMac tracker. The tracker runs unobtrusively in the background without the need of any icons or pop-ups. This invisible software is designed to work on all Apple computers and will run you $29.95 for a one year subscription.

LIGATT Security International creates and designs affordable products primarily for business structures as well as the average consumer. Security on laptops is a growing issue and LIGATT is dedicated to minimizing laptop and computer theft. One thing that LIGATT has discovered is that it is far more important to individuals to retrieve and protect sensitive data on their laptops or computer as opposed to retrieving the physical device.

According to Director of Marketing for LocatePC and LocateMac Tialer Maxwell, “We have received more requests from our retailers for the Macintosh version of LocatePC. We expect LocateMac to surpass sales of all our other products.”

In a recent study conducted by The New York Times, the largest percentage of business laptops that are stolen or lost  occur when an employee is either working out of the office or traveling. The study also showed that about 40% of laptops were lost off-site while another third were lost in transit or travel.

LocateMac has every feature that comes with LocatePC including:

• Geolocation – Using the mobile tracker apps for the iPad or iPhone, you won’t have to depend on any outside party during recovery. You can receive alerts each time your computer’s IP address changes.
• Video Snap Shot – If there is a webcam connected to your laptop or computer, LocateMac will take a snap shot every 30 seconds of the person or everything in the room. These photos will then be automatically updated to the LocateMac database with a date and time stamp.
• Key Logging – This records all the keystrokes made on your laptop or computer by the thief. If the thief logs into a social media site, you will have access to their real name, username, password etc…
• Text Message – This allows your computer to text you or email you every time the IP address changes on your computer.
• Inventory – Takes a complete inventory of all of your devices like iPod, iPhone etc…
• Police/Insurance Report – Click a single button to have a detailed PDF report generated for you to send to the police or insurance company.
• Unlimited Monitoring – Monitor as many devices as you need to from a single account.
• Text to Screen – Send a message to your computer screen that the thief can visibly see.
• File Recovery – Allows you to have constant access to certain files for added security.
• iPad/iPhone – Track your stolen device directly from your mobile Apple devices.

With this tracker it seems like even if your Apple computer or laptop is stolen, you will be able to find it immediately, relieving some of the stress of a stolen device.

Source: PR Newswire – Locate Stolen or Missing Apple Computers With LocateMac

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