Keeping your Mac secure: Gatekeeper

Techtool Pro 18 introduced the Security Check tool, which reviews a number of potential security vulnerabilities on your Mac. This article covers how to keep your Mac secure for the Gatekeeper check.

Gatekeeper on macOS is a security technology designed to ensure that only trusted software runs on your Mac. When a user downloads an app from outside the Mac App Store, Gatekeeper verifies that the software is from an identified developer, and is free from malicious content.

If Gatekeeper is somehow disabled on your Mac, these checks will not be performed, opening the door for malicious code to run on your Mac. If the Security Check tool identifies that Gatekeeper is not enabled, it can be re-enabled using the System Settings application.

To enable Gatekeeper in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Security, then set “Allow applications from” to “App Store & Known Developers.”

Gatekeeper will be enabled, alerting you if any software tries to run that hasn’t been verified by Apple.