Mac users are prompted with this error message when opening Mac App Store apps: “App Name” is damaged and can’t be opened.
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Mac users faced trouble with their apps overnight after the security certificate Apple uses to prevent piracy expired late on Wednesday.
The App Store issues security certificates to keep track on the correct purchase of its apps, as well as to ensure that malicious software is kept at bay.
And the process of deleting and reinstalling all the applications customers ever bought on the Mac App Store certainly angered many as well, leading them to vent their frustrations on Twitter.
Finally, the big guys came in and acknowledged the issue to be related to Apple’s failure to renew a security certificate.
However, the issue also appears in OS X El Capitan, which Haddad believed could mean that multiple Mac App Store apps contacting Apple’s servers at the same time could be provoking a “self inflicted DDoS on Apple’s receipt generation service”. This was alright for most but a few people had forgotten their iCloud passwords, making the issue more of a mess. The issue confused everyone using Mac, users and developers alike, as it said that their apps were damaged and needed to be re-installed. The iPhone-maker has since issued a new certificate (with an expiry date of April 2035, according to The Guardian), but this hasn’t completely fixed the problem. The certificates are responsible for protecting the users’ systems from malware and other unauthorised apps.
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Tech Insider has reached out to Apple for comment and will update if we hear back.
