
That may not mean much if the developer lives in a country with a weak legal system (see below.) His identity is known to Apple, so he could be held legally responsible if he distributed malware. Software certified in this way hasn't necessarily been tested by Apple, but you can be reasonably sure that it hasn't been modified by anyone other than the developer.

By default, applications and Installer packages downloaded from the network will only run if they're digitally signed by a developer with a certificate issued by Apple.

Starting with OS X 10.7.5, there has been a second layer of built-in malware protection, designated " Software installed from a CD or other media is not checked.ģ.
