MacDirectory Magazine

Lightstorm Entertainment

MacDirectory magazine is the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts featuring interviews, in-depth tech reviews, Apple news, insights, latest Apple patents, apps, market analysis, entertainment and more.

Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1277879

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 23 of 147

Here's Why It's Dangerous to Pirate Mac Apps By Jesse Hollington For iPhone and iPad users, the App Store is the only legitimate game in town for getting apps onto your device, and although the Mac still allows apps to be installed old-school, many developers now push their apps through the Mac App Store for the increased safety, security, and simplicity, however, this hasn't stopped piracy in various forms, even for those apps on the App Store. For instance, last year we saw software pirates abusing enterprise developer certificates to create underground websites for apps, and even before that, the jailbreak has long provided a platform for getting pirated apps on iOS devices. However, since Mac apps can still be installed independently of the Mac App Store, software pirates haven't had to resort to such complex means to distribute bootlegged Mac apps, but even leaving aside the obvious ethical issues if you're looking for a way around paying for your Mac apps, here's another cautionary tale that should make you think twice. 'EvilQuest' Even if you don't buy all of your apps from the Mac App Store — and let's face it, some apps just aren't available that way anyway — when you purchase an app from a legitimate developer's website, you know you'll be getting a clean version of the app. This is something you can't be the least bit confident in when getting apps from other, more questionable sources, however, many Mac users are lulled into a false sense of security based on the old myth that "Macs don't get viruses." While it's true that the more secure architecture of macOS makes it less prone to viruses, especially compared to the Windows PCs of yesteryear, that by no mean makes your Mac immune to viruses, and this is especially true if you're deliberately downloading a virus onto your computer (whether you know it or not).

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of MacDirectory Magazine - Lightstorm Entertainment