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Hardening additions: admin accounts, audit tools, browser privacy, messenger security#526

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Gr3y-foX wants to merge 4 commits intodrduh:masterfrom
Gr3y-foX:feature/hardening-additions
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Hardening additions: admin accounts, audit tools, browser privacy, messenger security#526
Gr3y-foX wants to merge 4 commits intodrduh:masterfrom
Gr3y-foX:feature/hardening-additions

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@Gr3y-foX
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What this PR adds

Admin accounts

  • Disable root login shell via dsenableroot and dscl UserShell /usr/bin/false

Homebrew

  • CVE scanning for installed packages with brew-vulns
  • Python dependency auditing with pip-audit via pipx

Miscellaneous

  • CIS-style pmset power management baseline (sleep/displaysleep/womp)
  • sudo audit logging via /etc/sudoers.d/audit_sudo drop-in file
    (log_allowed, timestamp_type=tty, timestamp_timeout=0)

Browser

  • Mullvad Browser: crowd anonymity model, uBlock Origin JS control, defaults overview
  • New ## Search engines subsection: DuckDuckGo, Startpage, Brave Search
  • Per-browser search engine change instructions (Firefox, Chrome, Safari)

Messengers

  • New ## Notification Center privacy subsection: plaintext extraction risk
    from macOS SQLite notification database (ref: Patrick Wardle / Objective-See),
    per-app preview disable instructions, database flush command

System monitoring

  • New ## System auditing subsection: Lynis, Pareto Security, Mergen
  • Explains complementary roles of auditors vs. OpenBSM runtime monitoring

Viruses and malware

  • Added KnockKnock and OverSight alongside BlockBlock in ## Antivirus

Physical access

  • Added DoNotDisturb for lid-open detection

Related software

  • Added Mergen with active-maintenance caveat

Notes

  • All commands verified on Apple silicon, macOS Sequoia
  • No existing content modified; all additions are append-only within existing sections
  • Mergen flagged as "verify maintenance status before production use"

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@drduh drduh left a comment

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Nice suggestions!

@beerisgood @friadev any comments?

Comment thread README.md
persistent interactive root session via local or remote login:

```console
sudo dsenableroot -d
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Is the root account enabled by default; can it be accessed without following these instructions to disable it?

Comment thread README.md
Remember to periodically run `brew upgrade` on trusted and secure networks to download and install software updates. To get information on a package before installation, run `brew info <package>` and check its formula online. You may also wish to enable [additional security options](https://github.com/drduh/macOS-Security-and-Privacy-Guide/issues/138), such as `HOMEBREW_NO_INSECURE_REDIRECT=1`

To check installed Homebrew packages for known CVEs, consider using
[brew-vulns](https://github.com/nicowillis/brew-vulns):
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This looks unavailable - can you check the URL?

Comment thread .gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
PR_Fox.md
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What is this; do we need a gitignore?

Comment thread README.md

Add the following lines:

# Log each successful sudo invocation with a timestamp
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Needs code wrapping.

Comment thread README.md

The default search engine in most browsers is Google, which
links queries to your account, IP address, and browsing history
to build an advertising profile. Changing the search engine is
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Can we make this more neutral in tone or cite a concrete source?

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2 participants