These enterprise tools allow employees of a company to walk through the customized IT setup of a Mac themselves, even if they work in a satellite office or from home. That attack, which researchers will demonstrate Thursday at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, targets enterprise Macs that use Apple's Device Enrollment Program and its Mobile Device Management platform. In fact, it's possible to remotely compromise a brand new Mac the first time it connects to Wi-Fi.
But there's still never a guarantee that a mass-produced product will come out of the box totally pristine. Apple's supply chain is one of the most closely monitored and analyzed in the world, both because of the control the company exerts and keen interest from third parties.
