Dropbox is using an unsigned binary to install kernel extensions on your Mac
Dropbox has been willing to get their hands dirty in their pursuit of user-friendliness since day one, especially on the Mac¹. Didn't find any examples where they walk it back; usually they stick to their guns with a few minor tweaks (and top-of-HN-discussion PR replies).<p><i>Dropbox Hasn't Learned Their Lesson</i> <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12619722" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12619722</a> (2016) "You seem to completely miss the point. It's not about the feature itself, it's your way of "hacking" or "injecting" Dropbox features into places the user didn't expect."<p><i>How Dropbox Hacks Your Mac</i> <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12463338" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12463338</a> (2016) "It's very strange that after I remove Dropbox from the accessibility list you think it's ok to add it back in again."<p><i>Dropbox accesses all the files in your PC?</i> <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9136546" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9136546</a> (2015) "It does, however, 'QueryBasicFileInformation' and and 'QueryDirectory' when I create a file on my desktop."<p><i>The Tech Behind Dropbox’s New User Experience on Mobile, Part 2</i> <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8203164" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8203164</a> <a href="https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ieinternals/2014/09/04/caveats-for-authenticode-code-signing/" rel="nofollow">https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ieinternals/2014/09/04/cave...</a> (2014) "what good is a code-signed executable when that executable can simply download a payload from the internet like this Dropbox installer does"<p><i>Dropship — successor to torrents?</i> <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2478567" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2478567</a> (2011) "Apparently Dropbox notices they already have that file, and instead of you uploading it they just make it appear in your account." CEO Drew Houston actually did the PR for the cleanup: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2482712" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2482712</a><p>¹ <a href="http://mjtsai.com/blog/2011/03/22/disabling-dropboxs-haxie/" rel="nofollow">http://mjtsai.com/blog/2011/03/22/disabling-dropboxs-haxie/</a> (2011) "Dropbox injects code into the Finder in order to draw the green and blue badges atop your icons"