Information
Secure Keyboard Entry prevents other applications on the system and/or network from detecting and recording what is typed into Terminal. Unauthorized applications and malicious code could intercept keystrokes entered in the Terminal.
Enabling Secure Keyboard Entry minimizes the risk of a key logger from detecting what is entered in Terminal.
Solution
Graphical Method:
Perform the following steps to enable secure keyboard entries in Terminal:
- Open the Applications folder
- Open the Utilities folder
- Open Terminal
- Select Terminal in the Menu Bar
- Set Secure Keyboard Entry to enabled
Terminal Method:
$ /usr/bin/sudo -u <username> /usr/bin/defaults write -app Terminal SecureKeyboardEntry -bool true
example
:
$ /usr/bin/sudo -u firstuser /usr/bin/defaults write -app Terminal SecureKeyboardEntry -bool true
Profile Method:
Create or edit a configuration profile with the following information:
- The PayloadType string is com.apple.Terminal
- The key to include is SecureKeyboardEntry
- The key must be set to <true/>
Note: Since the profile method sets a system-wide setting and not a user-level one, the profile method is the preferred method. It is always better to set system-wide than per user.
Impact:
Enabling this in Terminal would prevent an application that is otherwise validly intercepting keyboard input from intercepting that input in Terminal.app. This could impact productivity tools.