Slack
Slack is a workplace app for group messages, file sharing, and voice and video calls. It’s made by Salesforce, based in the United States.
Criminals have used its name in fake downloads or scams, so get it only from slack.com.
What it is
People use Slack to talk with colleagues, organise conversations into channels, share files and search past discussions. Its voice and video calls are called huddles.
Slack receives the messages and files you submit. On your Mac, it uses microphone and camera access for huddles, and screen recording permission for screen sharing.
Slack is an established workplace app owned by Salesforce, with official downloads on its website and the Mac App Store. The organisation running your workspace controls its messages and files, including settings for keeping and exporting them.
Who makes it
Salesforce is a business software company founded in 1999, based in San Francisco, which acquired Slack in 2021. Its legal name is Salesforce, Inc.. Its website is salesforce.com.
Is it the real one?
Every Mac app carries a signature from the developer who made it. Apple checks who the developer is before handing out the certificate, and macOS refuses to open an app whose signature has been tampered with.
The real Slack is signed by Salesforce, Apple team ID BQR82RBBHL, or by the App Store for copies installed from there. A copy signed by anyone else isn’t from Salesforce. HARD’s Mac app checks this for you; to check by hand, open Terminal and run codesign -dv "/Applications/Slack.app", and look for that TeamIdentifier.
Its bundle ID, the name macOS knows it by, is com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap. Download it only from slack.com or the Mac App Store, not from an ad or a link someone sends you.
Fakes. In January 2024, Malwarebytes reported Google search ads impersonating Slack and leading to a fake download site. Its Mac download installed Atomic Stealer, which collected passwords and sensitive files.
What it connects to
In normal use, Slack talks to these places on the internet. A firewall that asks before apps connect, like the one in HARD’s Mac app, will show them.
| Address | Why |
|---|---|
slack.com | Sign-in and workspace access |
wss-primary.slack.com | Live messaging connection |
wss-backup.slack.com | Backup live messaging connection |
*.chime.aws | Huddle audio, video and screen sharing |
What it can see
macOS asks you before an app can use these. You can change them any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
| Permission | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Microphone | To let other people hear you in huddles. |
| Camera | To show your video in huddles. |
| Screen & System Audio Recording | To share your screen in huddles. |
Security record
Problems with Slack or Salesforce in the last three years, newest first. Keeping the app up to date covers the ones that were fixed.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Salesforce reported attackers extracting data through overly broad guest permissions on customers’ Experience Cloud sites and published configuration changes for affected customers to make. | ↗ | |
| Unauthorised activity through Gainsight connections may have exposed Salesforce customer data; Salesforce revoked access tokens and restored the integrations in December after independently checked remediation. | ↗ | |
| Attackers stole Salesforce customer data using compromised Salesloft Drift access tokens, which Salesforce and Salesloft revoked on 20 August. | ↗ | |
| Slack patched an AI flaw that could let an existing workspace member trick others into revealing data, and reported no evidence of unauthorised customer data access. | ↗ |
References
- What is Slack? slack.com
- Slack for Mac slack.com
- Troubleshoot huddles screen sharing bug on the Slack Mac desktop app slack.com
- Update the Slack desktop app slack.com
- Slack for Mac release notes slack.com
- Manage Slack connection issues slack.com
- Guide to network and system configuration for Slack huddles slack.com
- Slack privacy policy slack.com
- The History of Salesforce salesforce.com
- Salesforce Completes Acquisition of Slack salesforce.com
- Atomic Stealer rings in the new year with updated version malwarebytes.com
- Protecting Your Data: Essential Actions to Secure Experience Cloud Guest User Access salesforce.com
- Security Advisory: Unusual Activity related to the Gainsight application help.salesforce.com
- Widespread Data Theft Targets Salesforce Instances via Salesloft Drift cloud.google.com
- Slack Security Update slack.com
- The signature on a real installed copy, read by HARD with
codesign.