Mac OS Zero Trust Endpoint Security Platform

Author: Adrian Johnson adrian207@gmail.com

Executive Summary

This platform delivers automated Mac OS endpoint hardening through risk-based device posture assessment, real-time telemetry collection, and automated security workflow orchestration. The solution integrates device signals with network and identity controls to enable Zero Trust security with measurable risk reduction.

Key Capabilities

Device Security Posture Management

• Continuous Mac OS endpoint telemetry collection and risk scoring
• Automated compliance validation against security baselines
• Real-time device health monitoring and threat detection

Risk-Based Automation

• Automated access resets triggered by device risk signals
• Forced re-authentication workflows for high-risk devices
• Dynamic policy enforcement based on device posture

Security Tool Integration

• Kandji endpoint management platform integration
• Zscaler network security enforcement
• Seraphic browser security controls
• Extensible connector framework for additional tools

Zero Trust Implementation

• Device-centric access controls
• Continuous trust verification
• Network segmentation based on device risk
• Identity-aware security policies

Architecture Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Mac OS Endpoints                         │
│              (Telemetry Agents Installed)                   │
└───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘
                        │
                        ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Telemetry Collection Layer                     │
│    (Device Signals, Security Events, Compliance Data)       │
└───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘
                        │
                        ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Risk Assessment Engine                         │
│        (Scoring, Analytics, Threat Detection)               │
└───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘
                        │
                        ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│            Workflow Orchestration Engine                    │
│       (Automated Response, Policy Enforcement)              │
└───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘
                        │
        ┌───────────────┼───────────────┐
        ▼               ▼               ▼
    ┌──────┐      ┌─────────┐     ┌──────────┐
    │Kandji│      │Zscaler  │     │Seraphic  │
    │ MDM  │      │Network  │     │Browser   │
    └──────┘      └─────────┘     └──────────┘

Component Structure

Core Services

• core/ - Configuration, logging, and shared utilities
• telemetry/ - Device data collection and aggregation
• risk_engine/ - Risk scoring and assessment logic
• workflows/ - Automated security response orchestration
• integrations/ - Security tool API connectors

Security Modules

• hardening/ - Mac OS baseline configurations and policies
• enforcement/ - Policy deployment and validation
• monitoring/ - Analytics, alerting, and dashboards

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10 or higher
• Mac OS endpoints with administrative access
• API credentials for integrated security tools
• PostgreSQL or compatible database

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd Mac-Hardening

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Configure environment
cp config/config.example.yaml config/config.yaml
# Edit config.yaml with your credentials and settings

# Initialize database and run migrations
python scripts/init_database.py
python scripts/migrate.py upgrade

# Run initial setup
python scripts/setup.py

Configuration

Edit config/config.yaml to configure:

• Security tool API credentials (Kandji, Zscaler, Seraphic)
• Risk scoring thresholds and policies
• Workflow automation rules
• Alert and notification settings
• Database connection parameters

Running the Platform

# Start the main service
python main.py

# Run in background with logging
nohup python main.py > logs/platform.log 2>&1 &

# Use Docker (recommended for production)
docker-compose up -d

Risk Scoring Methodology

The platform calculates device risk scores (0-100) based on:

Security Posture Factors (40%)

• OS version and patch level
• Security tool installation and health
• Firewall and encryption status
• Authentication configuration

Compliance Factors (30%)

• Policy adherence
• Configuration drift
• Required software presence
• Certificate validity

Behavioral Factors (20%)

• Access patterns and anomalies
• Network connections
• Login attempts and failures
• File system changes

Threat Indicators (10%)

• Malware detections
• Suspicious processes
• Network threats
• Vulnerability exposure

Automated Workflow Examples

High Risk Device Response

trigger: device_risk_score > 75
actions:
  - Reset network access tokens (Zscaler)
  - Force MFA re-authentication
  - Isolate device to quarantine network
  - Alert security operations team
  - Create incident ticket

Non-Compliant Device Remediation

trigger: compliance_violations > 3
actions:
  - Deploy corrective policies (Kandji)
  - Restrict network access
  - Send user notification
  - Schedule compliance review
  - Escalate if unresolved after 24h

Zero Trust Access Enforcement

trigger: new_device_connection
actions:
  - Verify device enrollment status
  - Validate security posture
  - Apply conditional access policies
  - Grant appropriate network access
  - Enable continuous monitoring

Security Tools Integration

Kandji MDM Platform

• Device enrollment and inventory management
• Policy and configuration deployment
• Software distribution and updates
• Compliance reporting and remediation

Zscaler Network Security

• Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) enforcement
• Access token management and revocation
• Network policy application based on device risk
• Traffic inspection and threat prevention

Seraphic Browser Security

• Browser-based threat protection
• Data loss prevention controls
• Malicious site blocking
• Session isolation and control

Monitoring and Analytics

Grafana Dashboards

The platform includes 4 pre-built Grafana dashboards for comprehensive monitoring:

📊 Device Risk Overview

• Real-time device risk scores and trends
• Risk level distribution across your fleet
• Top high-risk devices requiring attention
• Risk factor analysis by category

✅ Compliance Monitoring

• Overall compliance posture tracking
• Policy violation detection and trending
• Compliance score monitoring by device
• Critical violation alerting

⚡ System Health & Performance

• API performance metrics (latency, throughput)
• Database query performance
• System resource utilization
• Integration health monitoring

🔒 Security Events & Threats

• Real-time security event tracking
• Threat indicator detection
• Alert monitoring by severity
• Security incident visualization

Quick Setup:

# Import dashboards into your Grafana instance
# See grafana/README.md for detailed instructions

For complete setup instructions and dashboard documentation, see grafana/README.md.

Alerting and Notifications

• High-risk device alerts
• Compliance violations
• Security event notifications
• Workflow execution status

Reporting

• Executive security summaries
• Risk reduction metrics
• Compliance audit reports
• Incident post-mortems

Zero Trust Implementation

Device Trust Verification

• Continuous posture assessment
• Dynamic trust scoring
• Adaptive access controls
• Real-time policy enforcement

Network Segmentation

• Risk-based network zones
• Micro-segmentation policies
• Least privilege access
• Automatic isolation of compromised devices

Identity Integration

• Device-to-identity binding
• Conditional access policies
• Step-up authentication triggers
• Session management

Deployment Models

Cloud-Hosted (Recommended)

• Deploy on AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Managed database and services
• Auto-scaling capabilities
• High availability configuration

On-Premises

• Deploy on internal infrastructure
• Direct integration with existing systems
• Full data control
• Custom network architecture

Hybrid

• Central cloud management
• Regional on-premises agents
• Distributed telemetry collection
• Centralized analytics and reporting

Security and Compliance

Data Protection

• Encrypted data in transit (TLS 1.3)
• Encrypted data at rest (AES-256)
• API authentication and authorization
• Audit logging of all actions

Compliance Frameworks

• NIST Cybersecurity Framework alignment
• CIS Mac OS benchmarks
• ISO 27001 controls
• SOC 2 compliance support

Database Management

The platform uses Alembic for automated database schema migrations, enabling seamless upgrades between versions.

Migration Commands

# Check current database version
python scripts/migrate.py current

# Apply all pending migrations
python scripts/migrate.py upgrade

# Create a new migration (after model changes)
python scripts/migrate.py create -m "Add new field"

# Rollback last migration
python scripts/migrate.py downgrade

# View migration history
python scripts/migrate.py history

Key Features

• Automated Schema Evolution - Safe database upgrades across versions
• Version Control - All schema changes tracked in code
• Rollback Support - Downgrade to previous versions if needed
• Auto-generation - Detect model changes automatically
• Production Ready - Supports offline SQL generation for DBA review

For complete migration guide, see docs/DATABASE_MIGRATIONS.md.

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Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Telemetry Collection Failures

• Verify agent installation on endpoints
• Check network connectivity and firewall rules
• Validate API credentials
• Review agent logs in /var/log/zerotrust-agent/

Integration Connection Errors

• Confirm API credentials are current
• Check service endpoint URLs
• Verify network access to external services
• Test API connectivity with diagnostic tools

Workflow Not Triggering

• Review workflow conditions and thresholds
• Check risk scoring calculations
• Verify workflow is enabled
• Examine orchestration engine logs

Roadmap to v1.0

Planned Features

• Automated Database Migration System - Seamless database schema updates (Alembic-based)
• Pre-built Grafana Dashboards - Ready-to-use monitoring dashboards (4 dashboards available)
• Telemetry Agent Installer - Simplified agent deployment to endpoints (Hybrid Munki integration)
• Advanced Behavioral Analytics & Anomaly Detection - ML/statistical threat detection with baseline profiling
• SIEM Integration - Splunk, Elastic Stack, Syslog/CEF connectors with batching and retry
• Additional Integration Connectors - Kandji, Zscaler, Seraphic, Okta, CrowdStrike integrations
• Mobile App for Alerts - iOS/Android app for security notifications
• Custom Policy Builder - Web UI for creating custom compliance policies
• Automated Remediation Workflows - Self-healing security controls
• Enhanced Reporting & Analytics - Executive dashboards, compliance reports, automated scheduling, email delivery
• Multi-platform Support - Windows and Linux endpoint support

Target Release: Q1 2026

Current Status: v1.0.0 GA (Production Ready) 🎉
Release Date: October 29, 2025
Next Milestone: v1.1 (Multi-Platform Support)

See release notes:

• RELEASE_NOTES_v1.0.md - v1.0 GA (Production Ready) 🚀
• RELEASE_NOTES_v0.9.7.md - Security Tool Integrations
• RELEASE_NOTES_v0.9.6.md - SIEM Integration
• RELEASE_NOTES_v0.9.5.md - Behavioral Analytics & Anomaly Detection
• RELEASE_NOTES_v0.9.4.md - Enhanced Reporting & Analytics
• RELEASE_NOTES_v0.9.3.md - Telemetry Agent Installer
• RELEASE_NOTES_v0.9.2.md - Automated Database Migrations
• RELEASE_NOTES_v0.9.1.md - Grafana Dashboards
• RELEASE_NOTES_v0.9.0.md - Initial Beta Release

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please follow secure coding practices and include tests for new features.

Support

For issues, questions, or feature requests, please contact: Adrian Johnson adrian207@gmail.com

License

[Specify your license here]

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Platform Version: 1.0.0 GA 🚀
Last Updated: October 29, 2025
Author: Adrian Johnson adrian207@gmail.com