Configuration application. Since
macOS Sierra, the "Anywhere" option is hidden by default. In the security & privacy panel of
System Preferences, the user has three options, allowing apps downloaded from: The command-line utility provides granular controls, such as custom rules and individual or blanket permissions, as well as an option to turn Gatekeeper off. This attribute is added by the application that downloads the file, such as a
web browser or
email client, but is not usually added by common
BitTorrent client software, such as
Transmission, and application developers will need to implement this feature into their applications and is not implemented by the system. The system can also force this behavior upon individual applications using a signature-based system named Xprotect.
Execution that appears when Gatekeeper prevents an application from running, because it was not signed by an Apple certified developer When the user attempts to open an application with such an attribute, the system will postpone the execution and verify whether it: • is blacklisted, • is code-signed by Apple or a certified developer, or • has code-signed contents that still match the signature. Since Snow Leopard, the system keeps two blacklists to identify known malware or insecure software. The blacklists are updated periodically. If the application is blacklisted, then File Quarantine will refuse to open it and recommend that the user drag it to
Trash. Gatekeeper will refuse to open the application if the code-signing requirements are not met. Apple can revoke the developer's certificate with which the application was signed and prevent further distribution. Once an application has passed File Quarantine or Gatekeeper, it will be allowed to run normally and will not be verified again.
Override To override Gatekeeper, the user (acting as an administrator) either has to switch to a more lenient policy from the security & privacy panel of System Preferences or authorize a manual override for a particular application, either by opening the application from the
context menu or by adding it with . Starting with macOS 15 (Sequoia) the user additionally has to go to "System Settings / Privacy & Security" then scroll down to the bottom and select "Open Anyway".
Path randomization Developers can sign
disk images that can be verified as a unit by the system. In macOS Sierra, this allows developers to guarantee the integrity of all bundled files and prevent attackers from infecting and subsequently redistributing them. In addition, "path randomization" executes
application bundles from a random, hidden path and prevents them from accessing external files relative to their location. This feature is turned off if the application bundle originated from a signed
installer package or disk image or if the user manually moved the application without any other files to another directory. == Implications ==