Cyber Security Knowledge Base
Comprehensive security guides, logging tutorials, and incident response playbooks for Mac administrators.
Featured Guides
Understanding CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEVs)
What KEVs are, why they matter for Mac admins, and how to respond when Apple vulnerabilities appear on the CISA catalog
When Things Go Wrong: A Mac Admin's Diagnostic Playbook
Systematic approach to diagnosing macOS issues — from initial observation through log analysis, root cause identification, and remediation
Fundamentals
The CIS Controls: A Mac Admin's Guide
Understanding the 18 CIS Controls and how they map to Mac fleet management
Understanding CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEVs)
What KEVs are, why they matter for Mac admins, and how to respond when Apple vulnerabilities appear on the CISA catalog
Understanding CVSS Scores: Reading Vulnerability Severity
How to interpret CVSS scores, what Base/Temporal/Environmental metrics mean, and using severity to prioritize patching
What Is a CVE? Understanding Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
How CVEs work, their lifecycle from discovery to patch, and how to look up Apple CVEs as a Mac administrator
What Is a Security Control?
Understanding preventive, detective, and corrective security controls with practical Mac administration examples
What Is the NVD? NIST National Vulnerability Database Explained
How the NVD works, its relationship to CVEs and KEVs, and how Mac admins can use it for vulnerability intelligence
macOS Security Architecture
FileVault Disk Encryption for Mac Admins
Managing FileVault 2 at scale — enabling, escrowing recovery keys, institutional keys, and fleet deployment strategies
Gatekeeper and Notarization on macOS
Understanding macOS code signing, Gatekeeper enforcement, Apple notarization, and managing them in enterprise environments
Secure Boot and Apple Silicon Security
Understanding the Mac boot chain, Secure Boot modes, LocalPolicy, and how T2/M-series chips protect your fleet
System Integrity Protection (SIP) on macOS
What SIP protects, how it works under the hood, and why you should almost never disable it
TCC: Transparency, Consent, and Control on macOS
Managing privacy permissions, PPPC profiles, and the TCC framework that controls app access to sensitive data
XProtect: Apple's Built-in Malware Defense
How XProtect, XProtect Remediator, and MRT work together to protect macOS — and what Mac admins need to know about managing them
Logging & Diagnostics
Console.app: A Mac Admin's Guide to the macOS Log Viewer
How to effectively use Console.app for real-time log monitoring, searching, filtering, and diagnosing Mac issues
Essential Log Predicates for macOS Security Monitoring
Ready-to-use log predicates for monitoring authentication, file access, network activity, malware detection, and privilege escalation
macOS Unified Logging: The Complete Guide
Deep dive into Apple's unified logging system — subsystems, categories, log levels, and how to effectively query logs for troubleshooting
Mastering log show and log stream on macOS
Complete reference for macOS log commands — filtering with predicates, output styles, time ranges, and real-world troubleshooting workflows
Reading BSM Audit Logs on macOS
Understanding Basic Security Module audit logs — enabling auditing, reading with praudit, and tracking security events
When Things Go Wrong: A Mac Admin's Diagnostic Playbook
Systematic approach to diagnosing macOS issues — from initial observation through log analysis, root cause identification, and remediation
Incident Response
Collecting Forensic Evidence on macOS
A practical guide to gathering volatile and persistent forensic data from macOS systems for security investigations
Isolating a Compromised Mac
How to safely isolate a potentially compromised Mac while preserving forensic evidence for investigation
Mac Admin Incident Response Checklist
Step-by-step incident response checklist for Mac administrators — from initial detection through containment, eradication, and recovery
Reporting Security Incidents
When and how to report security incidents — internal escalation, regulatory requirements, and law enforcement notification
Compliance & Benchmarks
CIS Benchmarks for macOS
Implementing CIS Benchmarks on your Mac fleet — key settings, automated assessment, and deployment via MDM
DISA STIGs for Apple Platforms
Understanding and implementing Defense Information Systems Agency Security Technical Implementation Guides for macOS and iOS
NIST macOS Security Compliance Project (mSCP)
Using the NIST mSCP to generate security baselines, compliance scripts, and configuration profiles for macOS