When the Department of Homeland Security implemented a ban on laptops and tablets being carried in hand baggage on US-bound flights from a number of international airports, it seemed obvious that this was going to hit airlines hard. This has now been confirmed by an AP report …
If you’re anything like me, you try out a lot of apps but keep only a small proportion of them. As some of them need Dropbox access, it’s easy to find that you’ve authorized a whole bunch of apps you no longer use …
McAfee tells us that the growth in Mac malware seen last year has continued into this year, growing 53% in the first quarter alone. The total number of instances of malware detected has reached over 700,000.
As before, though, the headline number isn’t as alarming as it might appear …
Tim Cook last night told Bloomberg that Apple had helped the UK with its investigations of terrorist attacks.
There have been three recent terrorist attacks in the UK, a suicide bombing in Manchester and two incidents where a vehicle was driven into people on bridges in London …
Facebook has told CNBC it wants to be a ‘hostile environment for terrorists’ as the British government issued a call to ‘regulate cyberspace’ after the terrorist attack on London Bridge …
It’s been more than two months since the U.S. government banned tablets and laptops from cabin baggage on flights from 10 airports, and there has been much talk since of extending the ban.
An iPad bomb plot was said to have been one factor behind the original ban. The Trump administration last month considered extending the ban to all flights from Europe, with the plan said to be ‘under active consideration‘ before it was reportedly rejected.
Now, however, it appears that an even more widespread ban is on the table …
Earlier this year, the United States government enacted a new policy that prevents tablets and laptops from being carried in carry-on baggage on flights to the United States from eight countries. Now, The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly considering expanding the ban to include flights departing from the United States…
Security researchers have discovered a surprising new way for attackers to gain control of a machine: malicious subtitles. The vulnerability is device-independent, meaning it could be used to gain control of anything from an iPhone to a Mac.
Apple releases two reports each year on how customer data is requested by governments and private parties as part of its privacy effort. While the reports are generally fairly general, the latest report released this week includes a notable change from previous versions…
It’s now seven years since Steve Jobs wrote his famous Thoughts on Flash open letter, in which he explained to Adobe the six reasons why Apple did not allow Flash on iOS devices. These reasons were, in brief:
Most of those reasons are just as valid today, security not least among them …
Nobody wants to risk buying a stolen item. Even if you leave aside the morality issue, buying stolen devices creates a market for further thefts. And with iPhones, a stolen device will be rendered useless by a combination of Activation Lock and blocks by carriers.
Wireless trade body CTIA has now created a free online tool to allow anyone to instantly check whether a phone is registered as lost or stolen …
Back in March, the United States government enacted a new policy that prohibited tablets and laptops from being carried in cabin baggage on flights to the United States from eight countries. It was last month suggested that the policy may be expanded to include all flights from Europe to the United States, and a new report says officials have been meeting with airlines ‘on a weekly basis’ to discuss the possibility …
If you downloaded the popular video converter Handbrake last week, your Mac may be infected with a nasty trojan. The developer said over the weekend that one of the mirror sites used to download the app was hacked, with the real app replaced by a trojan that gives root access …
We learned recently that macOS malware grew by 744% last year, though most of it fell into the less-worrying category of adware. However, a newly-discovered piece of malware (via Reddit) falls into the ‘seriously nasty’ category – able to spy on all your Internet usage, including use of secure websites.
Security researchers at CheckPoint found something they’ve labelled OSX/Dok, which manages to go undetected by Gatekeeper and stops users doing anything on their Mac until they accept a fake OS X update …
ABC7 News reports that an Apple Store in Corte Madera, California, was the subject of a second major theft in the space of a few months. On this occasion, police report that $24,000 worth of iPhones, iPads and Macs were stolen.
A U.S. ban on carrying laptops and tablets in the cabin of inbound international flights may be extended to European countries, including the UK. Any electronic device larger than a phone would have to be placed in hold baggage.
The U.S. government currently applies the ban to flights from 10 airports, mostly Middle Eastern and North African. The measure was introduced last month, the Department of Homeland Security stating that it was in response to intelligence suggesting that terrorists planned to smuggle explosives inside consumer electronics items …
Update: The latest version of Chrome now shows the correct URL.
Most phishing attacks – links that send you to a fake website in the hope that you’ll login with your real credentials – are usually easy to detect. Emails are often generic, rather than using your registered name. Grammar is poor or the wording is weird. The email will threaten closure of your account if you don’t take urgent action, and so on.
If you did miss all these clues and click on the link, the URL would show that it’s not really the site that it claims to be. But one demonstration site created by a Chinese security researcher shows how it’s possible to visit a fake website that seemingly shows the correct https://www.apple.com URL in a browser window …
From 9to5Toys Specials:
VPN access has been in the news lately, given President Trump’s decision to overturn the highly controversial internet privacy law late last month that allows ISPs to sell your browsing history if they see fit.
There are a number of reasons to consider using a VPN for your personal devices at home and now is the time to make the jump if you haven’t already. Aside from encrypting your movements on the internet, it can also provide flexibility and the benefit of bypassing geography-based restrictions from popular services like Netflix or YouTube.
Last year Apple patched iOS after cyber researchers from the UK demonstrated that a malicious webpage could use iPhone sensors to detect a passcode. The technique was so accurate that the team had a 100% success rate at working out 4-digit PINs within five attempts, reports Engadget.
You might think your phone’s movements are random, but they apparently create distinct patterns. During their tests, they were able to crack four-digit PINs on the first guess 70 percent of the time and 100 percent of the PINs they used by the fifth guess.
The attack vector was made possible, explained the study’s lead author Dr. Maryam Mehrnezhad, because mobile apps and websites were able to access sensor data without permission …
It was a surprise to the Mac community when Apple hired security researcher Jonathan Zdziarski last month, and many wondered what might happen to his app Little Flocker. Now TechCrunch reports that the security utility for the Mac will have a new home…
In light of the latest news that President Trump has overturned the FCC Internet privacy rules, discussions for and against virtual private networks (VPNs) have resurfaced. One of the biggest complaints with the repeal is that internet service providers are now legally allowed to sell your browsing data, if they’d like. While some ISPs have said that they won’t sell your browsing history for now, that doesn’t bar them from doing so in the future.
Proponents of VPNs believe that by utilizing such a service, you can obfuscate your browsing history so that your ISP won’t be able to build a “catalog” of your browsing habits. Opponents to VPNs dutifully note that by using a VPN service all you’re doing is migrating your browsing history from one ISP’s eyes to another. Browsing history data collection aside, benefits still exist by using VPNs, especially on your iPhone or iPad.
Yesterday, Apple had a busy day rolling out new updates across its software product lines. Most noticeably we got updates to macOS and iOS, but Apple also jam-packed a ton of security fixes into all its software. Totaling nearly 350 known vulnerabilities, Apple has pushed to make all its software more secure.
Apple has released a new security update for OS X Yosemite and El Capitan, or OS X 10.10 and 10.11, the operating system released two years and one year ago. Apple hasn’t yet detailed what security fixes are included beyond these release notes:
Security Update 2017-001 is recommended for all users and improves the security of OS X.
The update could be related to recent security vulnerabilities detailed in the news or routine maintenance for older versions. macOS 10.12.4 is the latest version of the Mac operating system for compatible machines and was released earlier today.
A realistic-looking dummy iPad
The decision taken by the US and UK governments to ban laptops and tablets from hand baggage on some flights was in part prompted by a plot to use a fake iPad as a bomb, reports the Guardian.
The ban – affecting flights to and from a number of predominantly Middle Eastern and North African countries – came into effect over the weekend. The US Department of Homeland Security had previously said it was the result of terrorists seeking ‘innovative methods’ to attack planes, and it has now been revealed that the iPad plot was one of these …