Jump To:
Leopard Reference Library: Security
Mac OS X provides a number of authorization, authentication, and cryptographic services that developers can use to build security into their applications. These interfaces include several C APIs that can be called from Carbon applications to provide security and secure SSL/TLS networking services.

View all Carbon Reference Library.
Document Descriptions
On Off
Display

Sort by
Title
Sort by
Resource Type
Sorted by
Date
CFNetwork Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Core Foundation networking functions to work with low-level BSD sockets.
Guides 2009-05-06
Keychain Services Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
This document explains how to use Keychain Services to store and retrieve passwords.
Guides 2009-03-12
Authorization Services Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to add fine-grained control of privileged operations in an application.
Guides 2009-01-06
Certificate, Key, and Trust Services Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Shows how to evaluate trust for a certificate and recover from a trust failure.
Guides 2008-11-19
Certificate, Key, and Trust Services Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes services to read and evaluate certificates and to use cryptographic keys.
Reference 2008-11-19
Keychain Services Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Keychain Services API, used to create, find, modify, and delete keychain items.
Reference 2008-11-19
Mac OS X Code Signing In Depth (HTML)
TN2206: Intermediate to expert level overview of code signing that details specific options and gotchas
Technical Notes 2008-08-06
Secure Coding Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Describes techniques to use and factors to consider to make your code more secure from attack.
Guides 2008-05-23
Security Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the API for protecting information.
Reference 2008-03-12
Authorization for Everyone (HTML)
TN2095: Describes applications of Authorization Services beyond simple privilege requesting.
Technical Notes 2008-01-30
BetterAuthorizationSample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows the recommended way to access privileged functionality from a non-privileged application on Mac OS X.
Sample Code 2007-11-27
OS Services Framework Release Notes (HTML)
Release Notes 2007-10-31
Security Interface Reference Update (HTML) (PDF)
Summarizes the symbols added to the Security Interface framework.
Release Notes 2007-07-18
Security Reference Update (HTML) (PDF)
Summarizes the symbols added to the Security framework.
Release Notes 2007-07-18
Authorization Plug-in Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the C API for implementing an authorization plug-in.
Reference 2007-05-15
Describing the kSecTrustResultUnspecified error. (HTML)
QA1360: Explaining the semantics behind the kSecTrustResultUnspecified error returned by the Security APIs.
Technical Q&As 2007-02-05
Security Framework Error Codes (HTML)
QA1499: Explains how to interpret errors returned by the Security Framework with an overview of Security error handling.
Technical Q&As 2006-11-16
Authorization Services C Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the C API for adding fine-grained control of privileged operations in an application.
Reference 2005-11-08
GetPrimaryMACAddress (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates retrieving the MAC address of the built-in Ethernet controller. Useful for uniquely identifying a Macintosh system.
Sample Code 2005-10-27
Keychain Manager Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the legacy C API for managing passwords for multiple users and databases. Replaced by Keychain Services.
Reference 2005-07-07
Secure Transport Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the C API for creating a Secure Sockets Layer session over any transport layer.
Reference 2004-08-31
MoreIsBetter (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Library providing indispensable wrapers and workarounds for many areas of Mac OS programming.
Sample Code 2003-10-27
CryptoSample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Contains sample code showing symmetric encryption and message digest calculation.
Sample Code 2003-02-06
GetMACAddressSample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates how to retrieve the MAC address for each Ethernet interface from the Mac OS X I/O Registry.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
SSLSample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Contains examples showing how to use SecureTransport.
Sample Code 2003-01-14