File Access Protection in Mac OSX with FileDefense
How many layers of Mac security can you have? Well according to SubRosaSoft, who this week (12 Nov ‘07) announced the release of FileDefense, you can have more!
In brief, it is an application that “forms the first line of defense in file access”. It is a set of programs that “provide an easy interface to locking down files and making sure that unwanted access is not given to malicious scripts, applications and services on the your computer.”
The Basics
The way FileDefense works is pretty easy, even if initially very annoying. At every attempt by an application or script to access a file FileDefense will check against the whitelist you have provided in the maangement interface. If the application has not been given explicit permission to access the file it is trying to read, you will be prompted with an alert asking whether you wish to grant access “permanently”, whether you wish to provide access just the once, or if you wish to actually kill the process. What could be easier?
Other Alternatives?
At this point you might be asking yourself: “What does FileDefense do that something like FileVault doesn’t protect me against?” Well the answer is simple. As described, FileDefense protects against actual file read requests, something like FileVault just holds the data in your home directory in an encrypted state, but that when you open your FileVault all the data is unecrypted and fully accessible to any application.
In addition to this, where FileDefense also gains compared to software such as Intego’s FileGuard is that it requires no encryption and works Finder-wide. It doesn’t matter if a file is encrypted, if any script or software can access it as and when it is open and unecrypted. To my mind FileDefense provides a much more seemless and transparent means by which to grant read access to your personal data in OSX.
Bells and Whistles
Given that this is the first generation of the application it works pretty well, though getting the initial set up right does require a little patience due to the fact that you are persistently prompted to accept or deny requests to access files, however, once you are past this first phase, you are set to rock ‘n’ roll!
In my wishlist for FileDefense would definitely be a wider list of initial applications or groups of applications, maybe even an initial sweep of the system’s Applications folder for setup prior to going ahead and installing. A step by step guide with simple checkboxes to add or remove applications would be good. Other things would include the ability to sweep the hard drive and identify files that contain personal or other data that you may wish to protect, and put the files in a black list so that no application can actually open them without expressed permission from the user.
Conclusion: A Step in the Right Direction
FileDefense is the new kid on the block as far as this kind of software is concerned but it is off to a good start and I am sure will develop into something a lot more powerful. SubRosaSoft has a good track record when it comes to developing for the Mac,
Is FileDefense a MUST HAVE piece of software? Maybe not, but then again if you are paranoid enough about the contents of your hard drive it is definitely a useful addition to your protection toolkit.
Find out more about FileDefense by visiting the SubRosaSoft.com
