How to open .pkg files to check which files are installed on our Mac

suspicious package

Until the arrival of Windows 8, all users had to resort to downloading applications directly from the developer's website or through application download portals, which were also responsible for installing a large number of unwanted applications. But with the arrival of Windows 8 and your application store, we can be completely calm every time we download an application from this store, because we know that it does not contain any malicious files. The same happens with the downloads we make from the Mac App Store. Anyway, Apple allows users to install applications that come from other sources, known or unknown to them when they are unknown is when we find the problem.

Although we also have clear examples of known origins such as the case of Transmission, in which hackers have again sneaked a malware that stole the data from our iCloud keychain. But These are exceptional cases, although it is best to stop using this software and its updates given the love that hackers have for it. Regarding untrusted sources, most offer us .pkg files so that we can proceed to install the application in question. In this case, it never hurts to take a look at the contents of the package to see if we find anything suspicious inside.

For this we can make use of the free Suspicius Package app, available directly via the developer's website. At first we have to trust this application when downloading it since until we install it we will not be able to check if there is something suspicious inside, but for the sake of the developer it should not.

suspicious-package-2

Once we have installed the application, we can begin to investigate what type of files each installer package that we download from the internet contains. To access the quick view we will press the Command + space bar keys. Three sections will be shown below: package info, that shows us a description of all the files that will be installed, along with their size, the developer ID; All Files, As its name indicates, it shows us all the files of the installation package y Post Installl. The latter shows us the commands that will be executed during the installation.

Logically this type of information is not at the hand of all users, so is intended for advanced users and with extensive knowledge of the system.


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