X World 2026
25-26 AUGUST • NAARM | MELBOURNE
Doug Brown
What macOS Users Need to Know About Today's Threat Landscape
As Mac adoption has grown in the enterprise, so too have the threats targeting its users. macOS may have technical controls superior to other platforms, but adversaries have simply moved their focus to the user. This session walks macOS administrators and developers through the techniques we see every day on the frontline, from social engineering through to persistence and exfiltration. Attendees will leave with the knowledge and tools to understand these threats and educate their users.
About the presenter
Doug works in CrowdStrike’s engineering organisation, developing detection logic for the Falcon MacOS sensor. Prior to joining CrowdStrike, Doug worked for 6 years as a security analyst at a software vendor, performing SIEM detection development and incident response. Before that, Doug worked for 4 years in higher-education performing security administration, and has a master's by research in formal methods for protocol verification. Doug is returning to XWorld having previously given workshops on securing macOS over 15 years ago - before macOS even had an App Store!
Interview
We asked Doug:
"Finish this sentence: "You should come to my talk if…”
...you want to understand how criminals and nation-states work around macOS security controls on your machine.
