Ask HN: Security Risks with Community-Maintained Homebrew Casks?

[factorymoo]

Hi HN,

I’ve recently started using Homebrew on my macOS and have found it incredibly useful for managing software. While downloading from the official casks seems straightforward and secure, I’ve noticed that a lot of software is available through community-maintained casks.

I have a few concerns and questions regarding this:

* Is there a significant security risk in installing software from community-maintained casks?

* Could a malicious actor simply redirect the download link in the git code to malicious software?

* It seems that any hash checks are manually uploaded. How reliable are these in ensuring security?

I would love to hear the community’s thoughts on this and any best practices to mitigate potential risks.