Understanding implications of "reduced security" (app developer says it's necessary)

You will always be in control of what extensions can be run.

Also, on the subject of extensions: at the time of moving to a new mac, it would have been far better to leave all those legacy extensions behind. You should have migrated only the user accounts from your Monterey system.

Old extensions can often cause trouble (not necessarily in terms of security, but more so in terms of stability and performance).

Daniel P. B. Smith wrote:

For many years I've used Rogue Amoeba's "Audio Hijack." Under Ventura, it says I need to set "reduced security" for it to work. While I broadly trust this developer, I want to fully understand the implications of "reduced security." Obviously I don't want my information source to be a developer whose business depends on convincing users to do it.

I bought a Mac Mini with Ventura 13.2.1 preinstalled. During installation I migrated from a Monterey system. Everything works fine. The Library Extensions folder contains twenty legacy kexts dating back years. System Information shows no active extensions.

1) If I go to "reduced security," will it ever activate any system extensions without asking me to approve them?

2) Can I set "reduced security," run an app that needs and installs a system extension, and then return to "full security?" (I.e. trusting just that one application)? Or will "full security" block the extensions and prevent the application from functioning?

3) What is "best practices" with old kext files in the Library/Extensions folder? My instincts are just to never touch any .kext files ever (thus, not try to delete them).

Rogue Amoeba is trusted long time vender, I use both Audio Hijack and Fission for over 10+ years.

you can read more here—

Change security settings on the startup disk of a Mac with Apple silicon - Apple Support

I see no issue.

likewise—

+1