The Art of Mac Malware, Volume 2: Detecting Malicious Software

by Patrick Wardle

This first-of-its-kind guide to detecting stealthy Mac malware gives you the tools and techniques to counter even the most sophisticated threats targeting the Apple ecosystem.

Macs have become a popular target of cyber-criminals, and there are few effective defenses against these pernicious threats — until now. The second volume of The Art of Mac Malware is the first book to cover state-of-the-art programming techniques and security tools for detecting and countering malicious code running on a macOS system. 

Author Patrick Wardle, a former NSA hacker and a leading authority on macOS threat analysis, shares real-world examples from his own research to reveal the many strategies used by actual malware specimens to evade detection. As you dive deep into the Mac operating system’s internals, you’ll learn

Apple’s public and private frameworks and APIsHow to build heuristic-based security tools for the macOSUsing the macOS Endpoint Security framework to develop real-time monitoring software Objective-See’s suite of anti-malware tools, including KnockKnock, BlockBlock, and OverSight
But this book is not just aimed at practitioners — for anyone interested in understanding the current threats facing the Apple ecosystem, it’s a must-read.

Genres: Computer Science

376 pages, Paperback

Published February 25, 2025

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a very solid deeper dive into many of the different security aspects of macOS. As a pre-req I would make sure I'm familiar with the Objective-C as much of this book has code snippets or samples written in that.

[Christopher Heckman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I might come back before I find and read Volume 1.