Security

Security

A network monitor is exactly the kind of software that should have to explain itself. This page is that explanation, and it is specific enough to check.

Distribution and integrity

Airward is signed with an Apple Developer ID Application certificate, notarized by Apple, and the notarization ticket is stapled to the disk image so it validates even offline. It is not distributed through the Mac App Store, because the App Sandbox forbids the subprocess execution and local-network access the engine needs.

Verify a download yourself before trusting it:

spctl -a -vvv -t open --context context:primary-signature Airward.dmg

It should report accepted with source Notarized Developer ID. The team identifier is AAFFF6ZG4M.

Privileges it does not take

  • No admin password at install or run time.
  • No kernel extension and no system extension.
  • No raw sockets and no packet capture. Device discovery reads the kernel’s neighbour table and makes ordinary unprivileged connections.
  • No root helper installed or maintained.

It does require macOS Location permission, because that is the only way macOS discloses a network’s SSID and BSSID, which rogue-AP detection compares. Why that is.

What leaves your Mac

Your device inventory, network names, access point identifiers and event history stay in a local database. There is no server that receives them.

The app makes exactly two kinds of outbound request:

  • Licence activation and validation to api.airward.app, which sends the licence key and a machine name — nothing else.
  • Nothing else. No analytics, no crash reporting, no update pings.

The website is separate and uses cookieless analytics, described in the privacy policy.

Scope for vulnerability reports

In scope: the Airward macOS application, and the licence service at api.airward.app. That service stores licence keys, the purchaser’s email address, and per-machine activation records. It holds no network data because it is never sent any.

Report to hello@airward.app. Machine-readable details are at /.well-known/security.txt (RFC 9116). We will acknowledge reports and are happy to credit you unless you prefer otherwise. We do not currently run a paid bounty.

Honest limitations

Airward provides visibility and heuristic detection. It does not guarantee that every threat is caught, and Wi-Fi anomaly heuristics produce both false positives and false negatives. It cannot see traffic it is not on the path of, cannot decrypt anything, and only ever observes the network you are connected to.