Privacy Digest

It seems that Leopard is officially coming out on October 26,2007 and it has a few features that people concerned with privacy and security might find of interest. Some are listed below in no particular order. Apple's official list of new features.

Security Options

Tagging Downloaded Applications

Protect yourself from potential threats. Any application downloaded to your Mac is tagged. Before it runs for the first time, the system asks for your consent — telling you when it was downloaded, what application was used to download it, and, if applicable, what URL it came from.

Signed Applications

Feel safe with your applications. A digital signature on an application verifies its identity and ensures its integrity. All applications shipped with Leopard are signed by Apple, and third-party software developers can also sign their applications.

Application-Based Firewall

Gain more control over the built-in firewall. Specify the behavior of specific applications to either allow or block incoming connections.

Enhanced VPN Client Compatibility

Connect to a broader range of VPN clients. Leopard supports Cisco Group Filtering as well as DHCP over PPP, which allows you to dynamically acquire additional configuration options such as static routes and search domains.

Sharing and Collaboration Configuration

Share any folder on your Mac by setting it up as a shared folder in the Get Info window or in the Sharing pane of System Preferences. You can also create and edit access control lists, share with individuals in your network directory, or contacts in Address Book.

Sandboxing

Enjoy a higher level of protection. Sandboxing prevents hackers from hijacking applications to run their own code by making sure applications only do what they’re intended to do. It restricts an application’s file access, network access, and ability to launch other applications. Many Leopard applications — such as Bonjour, Quick Look, and the Spotlight indexer — are sandboxed so hackers can’t exploit them.

Library Randomization

Defend against attackers with no effort at all. One of the most common security breaches occurs when a hacker’s code calls a known memory address to have a system function execute malicious code. Leopard frustrates this plan by relocating system libraries to one of several thousand possible randomly assigned addresses.

Parental Controls

Dynamic Web Filter

Protect your children from websites with unsuitable content. Apple technology automatically trys to detect inappropriate content and prevents those web pages from appearing. You can override the filter by identifying sites you wish to explicitly allow or disallow certain websites.

Activity Logging

Keep an eye on your children’s computer activities. Leopard logs websites visited and applications used. It also maintains a list of people who have chatted with your child using iChat and a transcript of each text chat session.

Remote Control & Monitoring

Easily set up and monitor parental controls on your child’s Mac from any Mac on your home network.

Pre-Order via Amazon and help us out at the same time

If you use one of the two links below to order or pre-order your copy of Leopard, you won't pay any more, but Amazon will give Privacy Digest a small commission. And if you buy anything else after following the link, we get a commission on that also. We won't be able to thank you personally, since Amazon doesn't tell us who bought what, but we will appreciate your support.

• The individual users license.

• The Family pack: The Mac OS X Leopard Family Pack is a single-residence, five-user license.