Are Macs really safer than PCs? What should you do to make your Mac more secure? How do you know if your Mac has a virus? And how do you know which security apps you can trust? I'll dig into all of these questions and more today with Mac security guru Patrick Wardle.

Patrick Wardle is the founder of the Objective-See Foundation. Having worked at NASA and the NSA, as well as presented at countless security conferences Patrick is passionate about all things related to macOS security, writing books on macOS malware, and releasing free open-source security tools to protect Mac users.

Interview Notes

Objective See (free Mac tools): https://objective-see.org/ 

The Art of Mac Malware (book): https://taomm.org/ 

Objective by the Sea conference: https://objectivebythesea.org/ 

Apple’s Malware protections: https://support.apple.com/guide/security/protecting-against-malware-sec469d47bd8/1/web/1 

Reinstall macOS in Recovery Mode: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904 

Jamf presentation on Apple anti-malware tools: https://www.jamf.com/resources/videos/a-closer-look-at-macos-built-in-security-tools/ 

Further Info

Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch 

Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna 

Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support 

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter 

Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book 

Would you like me to speak to your group about security and/or privacy? https://fdsd.me/speakerrequest 

Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/ 

Table of Contents

Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show.

0:01:45: Interview setup

0:04:06: What have you been up to since we last had you on the show?

0:13:40: Are Macs safer than PCs?

0:17:34: How effective are modern antivirus programs?

0:22:25: Which are the better AV software programs?

0:24:45: Tell us about the Mac security apps that you created

0:27:53: How does Lulu differ from a regular firewall?

0:32:00: How do you know which security software you can trust?

0:38:00: How do we combat security fatigue?

0:43:22: Does the Apple App Store protect me from bad apps?

0:52:09: What's your take on Apple's new Lockdown Mode?

0:53:34: How do I know if my computer is infected with malware?

0:58:03: What should I do to protect my brand new Mac?

1:01:23: What worries you most right now? What gives you hope?

1:04:43: What's next for you?

1:10:31: Wrap-up