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System Integrity Protection (SIP) is designed specifically to protect critical system files and processes from being modified or tampered with, even by the root account. This feature, introduced in macOS El Capitan (10.11), ensures that essential parts of the operating system remain unchanged, thereby preventing malware and other unauthorized changes that could compromise the integrity of the system. SIP restricts the actions that the root user can take on protected files, making it a robust safeguard against potential system vulnerabilities.

While firewall protection is important for blocking unauthorized network access, it does not directly prevent file modification. Code signing is a method used to verify that software comes from a known source and has not been altered, but it does not actively prevent changes to system files. Application sandboxing is a security mechanism that restricts what resources an application can access, but it is mainly focused on limiting the capabilities of individual applications rather than safeguarding critical system files directly.

Therefore, System Integrity Protection stands out as the feature specifically aimed at maintaining the integrity and security of system files by preventing unauthorized modifications.