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APFS question
#46152 09/03/17 10:11 AM
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There's been much praise for APFS published here and elsewhere, but since I haven't seen anything that addresses potential down the road problems with it I'm wondering if the new file system presents vast, new opportunities for the bad guys, or is it only the OS, itself, that's vulnerable to exploits?


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: APFS question
artie505 #46165 09/04/17 02:48 PM
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Interesting questions. I suspect it's only the OS that is vulnerable, but we won't know until it is unleashed on the world and all those nefarious characters start playing with it.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: APFS question
Ira L #46167 09/04/17 03:34 PM
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I have said before, "any protection the human mind can conceive of, another human mind can find a way around" so there is no absolute security. However, the "bad guys" would have to get past MacOS to get to the APFS file system and certainly APFS is far more secure than HFS+ because of how files are physically stored on the media and strong data encryption is designed and built into APFS — not an add on as in HFS+ — would appear to make it a significantly harder target.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

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Re: APFS question
joemikeb #46177 09/04/17 11:20 PM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
I have said before, "any protection the human mind can conceive of, another human mind can find a way around" so there is no absolute security.

That's the answer I was expecting, and it's a good one.

And it suggests to me that it might be wise to wait a while before jumping on the APFS bandwagon, either by avoiding High Sierra altogether or by running it on a SSD formatted HFS+ (which I believe is possible).


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: APFS question
artie505 #46188 09/05/17 10:24 PM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
…or by running it on a SSD formatted HFS+ (which I believe is possible).

If the developer beta 8 installer is any indication while you may be able to RUN High Sierra on an internal SSD formatted HFS+ you will not be able to INSTALL High Sierra directly onto an internal HFS+ formatted SSD. (No HFS+ option was offered by that installer on my new MacBook Pro.) However, you should be able to install it on an external HD and clone that to the internal SSD formatted HFS+. You might have to forego the benefit of a Recovery Drive on the internal drive in that case. I am still unclear on how CCC handles that.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: APFS question
joemikeb #46189 09/06/17 06:46 AM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Originally Posted By: artie505
…or by running it on a SSD formatted HFS+ (which I believe is possible).

If the developer beta 8 installer is any indication while you may be able to RUN High Sierra on an internal SSD formatted HFS+ you will not be able to INSTALL High Sierra directly onto an internal HFS+ formatted SSD. (No HFS+ option was offered by that installer on my new MacBook Pro.) However, you should be able to install it on an external HD and clone that to the internal SSD formatted HFS+.

We've reached the exact same conclusions about installing and running High Sierra.

Originally Posted By: joemikeb
You might have to forego the benefit of a Recovery Drive on the internal drive in that case. I am still unclear on how CCC handles that.

Originally Posted By: CCC 5 Knowledge Base
CCC's Disk Center also offers the ability to create a new Recovery HD volume on volumes formatted with Apple's legacy filesystem, HFS+.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire

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