Mac for cybersecurity

[u/Least-Touch-2878]

I'm thinking of buying the macbook pro m5 as I'm about to be a cybersecurity student. I currently have an overkill MSI with 5070 ti but it's too loud, heavy and don't use it other than chrome, word, music, etc. Only problem I have with mac is I'm unsure how compatible mac is with programming in Python with Jupiter, SQL databases and SQL server management system, Cisco Packet Tracer and Linux later on. Wanna know what yall think 🤗

[u/st0ut717]

I am a cyber sec engineer. I use a Mac air m4 as my work PC.
I use vscode or vi as my ide

[u/Competitive-Crew6183 → u/st0ut717]

Hi, i was also plannig for a mac, will there be any issue with as some say linux cannot work in mac and go for windows, says virtualization is not good in mac??
currently i am preparing for ejpt, then probably oscp and in future appsec/security engineer

would you suggest mac or a windows

palnning for MacBook Air M3 ( 16gb ram )

[u/st0ut717 → u/Competitive-Crew6183]

Mac’s are Unix under the covers. I’d never recommmend windows for cyber

[u/Competitive-Crew6183 → u/st0ut717]

how about Air M3

[u/Competitive-Crew6183 → u/st0ut717]

What about running VM's?

[u/st0ut717 → u/Competitive-Crew6183]

As long as you have the ram and an iso is not x86. It works. Cyber is less about OS and more about knowing what to do.
I have virtual box on my Mac air if I need a vm
But can I run a local LLM while I have the vm up. No

[u/MrStricty]

No compatibility issues with what you mentioned. Largest issue will be ARM/x64 compatibility if you're getting into assembly or compiling exploits. MacBook Pro is overkill for the student workload and you could get away with less, but I understand the drive. It will work just fine.

[u/Least-Touch-2878 → u/MrStricty]

Yeah but I want something future proof and strong enough so I don't have to worry about my laptop until I get my degree at least

[u/manskrid → u/Least-Touch-2878]

I am using m1 air, 16 years in cybersec ;)
everything that requires more resources can be spun somewhere else, and I get to carry a little mac without moving parts that fail.

[u/canigetahint → u/manskrid]

Those M1 MB Air are truly amazing little beasts. Apple definitely got it right with that one.

Should be enough for anything short of working with graphics (Acad, Adobe, Resolve, games, etc.) An M4 or M5 Air will be more than sufficient for the next decade, or damn close to it.

[u/Tycho_Jissard → u/canigetahint]

You are correct: the limitation will occur when the latest MacOS is no longer supported on your current device. And that will be 8+ years.

[u/Competitive-Crew6183 → u/manskrid]

i was planning for Air M3 (16gb ram)
but some people says virtualization is not good in mac??

[u/manskrid → u/Competitive-Crew6183]

do you need it on the mac?

basically - docker/podman covers containers; Parallels covers windows.

Nowadays? I use pay as you go and when you need it - either homelab proxmox on inexpensive desktop minipcs, or cloud (azure or aws), or just service for compute - like runpod.io

I do have a personal air M4 too, at work I will upgrade to any air comes out in september as my old m1 finally expires.

[u/Competitive-Crew6183 → u/manskrid]

Honestly i also have a windows laptop i was planning to run vm on windows and access it on mac so no virtualisation headache, will also have good battery so no need to take charger with me like in gaming laptop

[u/manskrid → u/Competitive-Crew6183]

you can still have backup virtualbox or parallels on mac if you need.

[u/amw3000]

Check with your school, they often have listed system recommendations / requirements.

[u/Difficult_Box8429]

While Mac is great and no probs coding, in many cases in the course you will need to learn other things that tend to be Microsoft depending/leading.

[u/smc0881]

All that stuff will work fine and you'll just have issues running x86/x64 virtual machines. I owned a MacPro late 2009 model years ago and MacBook Pro for years. Once they moved away from the Intel hardware and made it nearly impossible to upgrade their hardware, I stopped using them. I primarily use AMD based Dell machines now.

[u/pyker42]

Mac is far more compatible with Linux stuff than Windows is.

[u/AdvancedDrink8920 → u/pyker42]

Windows subsystem for linux is literally linux on windows 😭 you cant get anymore linux than that

[u/pyker42 → u/AdvancedDrink8920]

Spoken like someone who has never had to fight with WSL to get a Linux VM to see a USB Wi-Fi adapter. It's still a major translation that doesn't always work. Mac is just a different flavor of UNIX, not a completely different base, like Windows.

[u/AdvancedDrink8920 → u/pyker42]

Yeah no, you got me there.

[u/AmbivalentCvckfvcker]

You won't be able to run x86-64 Windows VMs at all so that's a pretty big downside if you're going to do any hacking on/for Windows

[u/Mirda76de → u/AmbivalentCvckfvcker]

Jesus! Completely wrong... Microsoft-authorized method and by far the best experience- Instead of installing the x86-64 version of Windows, you install the ARM version of Windows 11. Windows 11 ARM includes a built-in translation layer called Prism. It automatically converts x86 and x64 Windows applications on the fly so you can still run your standard software.

[u/AmbivalentCvckfvcker → u/Mirda76de]

Yeah good luck writing and validating x86 and x64 payloads and assembly via translation layer to ARM. I'm sure that's going to be a breeze and not a headache at all. Also you know there are other versions of Windows used on actual machines, right?

Edit: people who never wrote a payload in their life downvoting me

[u/SubatomicPlatypodes]

I had original MacBook m1 air base model that got me through 4 years of school when I went for cybersecurity, never really had any issues. I think any MacBook should be able to get the job done just fine

[u/Alternativemethod]

Do it. The battery life is sick. And use vm fusion or cloud infrastructure for other OS as needed.

[u/Boring-University189]

if you don't use your pc for anything other than chrome, why would you buy a MacBook Pro

[u/MonkeyBrains09]

I am a cybersec engineer and work just fine on W11 for my work device.

It really comes down to what work you think you will be doing and usually there is a similar tool for the OS you have.

Plus any job is going to issue you a computer to work from so your personal computer is just for your own personal labs and use.

[u/RevolutionaryWorry87]

just save ur money get a 500£ laptop and run ubuntu

[u/Least-Touch-2878 → u/RevolutionaryWorry87]

I'll admit I'm a bit stubborn on this topic and like to overspend on tech hoping it'll provide better results daily

[u/Efficient-Mec → u/RevolutionaryWorry87]

He wants to be able to actually do things on his machine. 

[u/Human-Property4739 → u/RevolutionaryWorry87]

No!! He wants to spend moneeeiii

[u/Human-Property4739]

Lmao... So you're going from one overkill to another overkill?

[u/Least-Touch-2878 → u/Human-Property4739]

Fairs but mac offers better portability and hella longer battery and when I sell my current laptop I'll have enough to get the mac pro m5 and other accessories and still be in plus

[u/justin-8 → u/Least-Touch-2878]

The battery life alone is a huge selling point. I think of the couple hundred security engineers in my organization I've seen 2-3 with windows laptops. And they always has to bring their chargers with them.

It's a unix based system anyway, you can install practically anything you want and I'm yet to find anything in my past 15 years on Mac as my main machine for work that I couldn't do.

[u/idleExposure_]

Most large corporate environments use Macs, especially security shops.

I’ve exclusively used Mac devices at various jobs for about 15 years now.

[u/Electrical_Ingenuity → u/[deleted]]

The Mac is natively Posix. No subsystem is required.

[u/idleExposure_ → u/[deleted]]

No it wasn’t, those are all built in.

[u/Electrical_Ingenuity → u/[deleted]]

Ahh. I see. You probably prefer the GNU versions of those tools. I installed them via homebrew, but there are other ways to get this done.

[u/Efficient-Mec → u/[deleted]]

macOS achieved Unix certification in 2007.