14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is addressing Mac Developer Program members encouraging them to sign applications with their Developer ID now to get ready for Gatekeeper in OS X Mountain Lion.
As explained in our Mountain Lion Features special, Gatekeeper is a new security measure in OS X version 10.8 aka Mountain Lion which, according to Apple, “makes the Mac safer than ever.”
The mechanism helps prevent users from unknowingly downloading and installing malicious code, and it gives users full control over which apps get downloaded and run.
Users can choose from three security options: 1. download and run applications from anywhere; 2. download and run apps from the Mac App Store and apps signed with a Developer ID; or 3. download and run only apps from the Mac App Store.
Apple calls the last choice “the safest setting of all,” and “Gatekeeper lets you decide which setting is best for you.”
Developers must now scramble to get their apps signed in time for the Mountain Lion release this summer.
Apple tells developers in an email, “The Mac App Store is the safest place for users to get software for their Mac, but we also want to protect users when they get applications from other places.”
“Gatekeeper is a new feature in OS X Mountain Lion that helps protect users from downloading and installing malicious software. Signing your applications, plug-ins, and installer packages with a Developer ID certificate lets Gatekeeper verify that they are not known malware and have not been tampered with.”
Apple outlines that “Mac Developer Program members can sign applications with their Developer ID now to get ready for Gatekeeper.”
Those who are not already members of the Mac Developer Program are encouraged to join.
Upon releasing the first Developer Preview of OS X Mountain Lion earlier this year, Apple said that the company hopes to have it ready for the public in late summer 2012. Apple will showcase the polished up OS at WWDC 2012 this June.