Feature Spotlight: Extending Zero Trust Segmentation to the MacOS

We’re excited to announce the availability of our new agent for MacOS endpoints to all our customers. In this blog post, we’ll explore why it is important for us to offer an agent for MacOS endpoints and the benefits it provides.

The only Zero Trust segmentation vendor to support MacOS

With the addition of MacOS to the list of operating systems supported by Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, organizations are able to protect 100% of their endpoints and reduce the risk of ransomware and other malware attacks. Of all the leading Zero Trust segmentation providers, Akamai is the only Zero Trust segmentation vendor to support MacOS, a critical capability for a distributed workforce working on and off the campus network. 

Macs have an unacceptable amount of malware

Similarly to Linux, Mac started as a niche operation system, appealing mostly to creative professionals with some technical know-how. Over the past decade, Mac has become more popular and many emerging cloud-native companies now run their entire workforce on MacOS. 

In recent years, we’ve seen a significant increase in the amount of malware attacking MacOS endpoints. According to Apple’s head of software, Craig Federighi, “Today, we have a level of malware on the Mac that we don’t find acceptable and that is much worse than iOS.” 

Endpoint Zero Trust complements EDR protection 

Endpoint security will stop many attacks, but when it comes to never-seen-before ransomware or malware, security tools such as endpoint detection and response (EDR) need time to detect a file as malicious, leaving the organization exposed to vulnerabilities. 

Given that a ransomware attack can take out an entire network, including its huge fleets of laptops,  organizations are looking for new capabilities to complement their EDR tools to prevent attacks from spreading and ensure their distributed workforce can work safely from everywhere.

The advantages of the MacOS agent

The agent for MacOS endpoints was one of the most-requested features by our customers, and  has many significant benefits. You can: 

• Reduce the threat of ransomware —  the new agent minimizes attackers’ ability to move laterally between endpoints, resulting in reduced propagation paths

• Gain endpoint-to-endpoint visibility — the agent gives you visibility into MacOS endpoints to quickly detect risky behavior or any potential lateral movement of ransomware or malware 

• Control the access of your distributed workforce — with the MacOS agent only authorized and verified users and services gain access to resources as needed 

• Reduce the organization's attack surface significantly with tightZero Trust policies between endpoints

Assume breach 

"Never trust, always verify." When it comes to endpoints, that means verifying every endpoint and verifying the identity of all apps and devices used by employees to access work data, regardless of device ownership. 

The underlying Zero Trust principle is that you need to assume breach. You can’t rely on perimeter controls any more. You must have internal policies to prevent breaches from turning into mass infection. 

Zero Trust segmentation prevents lateral movement

With our new Zero Trust agent for Mac endpoints we contain the ability of the threat to propagate laterally, which is how malware spreads. Even if malware manages to infect an endpoint, the segmentation put in place by the agent will block its ability to communicate with other endpoints, significantly reducing the spread and impact of the attack.

Reveal and enforce

The agent ships with two built-in modules: Reveal and Enforcement (Figure), which provide granular visibility and policy controls. The agent supports MacOS Catalina and upward for both M1 and Intel processors.