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Security Concepts

This chapter introduces several concepts necessary to understanding the Mac OS X security APIs. It does not explain any of these concepts in depth, provide programming algorithms, or give the mathematical foundations of cryptography. If you are already familiar with security concepts, you may skip this chapter. If you are already familiar with security concepts in general but would like to know more about how permissions are implemented in Mac OS X, see “Permissions.”

For references to more detailed sources of information on security concepts and on how to write secure applications, see “See Also.”

Contents:

Aspects of Security
Authentication, Identification, and Authorization
Encryption and Decryption
Encrypting Messages
Digital Signatures
Digital Certificates
Authentication and Identification Methods
Permissions
Authorization
Secure Storage
Secure Communication

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