Security

A huge data breach involving Gravy Analytics has appeared to expose precise location data for millions of users of popular smartphone apps like Candy Crush, Tinder, MyFitnessPal, and more. Here’s what you should know about the unfolding breach.

9to5Mac Security Bite is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Making Apple devices work-ready and enterprise-safe is all we do. Our unique integrated approach to management and security combines state-of-the-art Apple-specific security solutions for fully automated Hardening & Compliance, Next Generation EDR, AI-powered Zero Trust, and exclusive Privilege Management with the most powerful and modern Apple MDM on the market. The result is a totally automated Apple Unified Platform currently trusted by over 45,000 organizations to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

A new report from Check Point Research details how a new variant of the infamous Banshee stealer malware from Russian-speaking cybercriminals takes a page from Apple’s own security practices to evade detection. The malware remained undetected for over two months by cleverly incorporating the same encryption methods as Mac’s XProtect antivirus detection suite.

If you’re an avid reader of Security Bite, you’ve heard me say (more than once) that malware stealers, usually through malware-as-a-service (MaaS) business models, are currently the largest threat to Mac users. They’re destructive, targeting your iCloud Keychain passwords, cryptocurrency wallets, sensitive information from files, and even system passwords like a stealthy low-orbiting ion canon. Cybercriminals will often embed this malicious code in seemingly legitimate applications as a ploy to infect machines.

Washington State is suing T-Mobile over a 2021 security breach which exposed the personal data of some 79 million people, including 2M Washington residents. Data exposed included social security numbers, phone numbers, physical addresses, unique IMEI numbers, and driver’s license information.

The carrier is accused of failing to follow industry-standard cybersecurity processes, which allowed the breach to go unnoticed for four months …

Phishing attacks are about to get a whole lot more convincing. A new report warns that scammers are now using AI to scrape information about you from your online profiles in order to send hyper-personalized emails which target your login credentials.

By finding out everything from your employer to your interests, scammers can send emails which have a far greater chance of appearing to be genuine …

I’ve been arguing that passwords are horrible for the best part of a decade now, and was an enthusiastic early adopter of the far better approach of passkeys.

Passkeys were supposed to achieve the holy grail of an approach which is both more secure than passwords and so easy to use that everyone would adopt them. But a new piece outlines four problems with the technology …

A US Army soldier has been arrested on suspicion of extorting money from AT&T and Verizon, following data breaches which saw a massive amount of customer data obtained.

The 20-year-old was arrested near the Army base in Fort Hood, Texas, on suspicion of being the cybercriminal known as Kiberphant0m – and statements by his mother aren’t likely to help …

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has responded to a series of massive Marriott and Starwood data breaches, ordering the companies to make no fewer than 13 changes to ensure it can’t happen again.

More than 344 million customers were impacted by three separate security breaches, which revealed personal data that included credit card details and passport information …

A report over the weekend suggested an Apple smart home doorbell with support for Face ID is in development. It follows an earlier report of an Apple smart home camera next year.

While it could be argued that both are commodity products, and that Apple’s most important contribution is the HomeKit platform rather than the hardware, there seems little doubt about the opportunity here …

Did you know that Apple, for years, has had a system and process for sending ‘threat notifications’ to users of suspected spyware attacks? Here’s what that means, and new details on the guidance Apple gives users with a compromised device.

The most popular home internet router brand in the US may be banned from sale in the country over fears that it represents a threat to national security.

Three separate US agencies have opened investigations into TP-Link routers, which account for 65% of the US market, in part because badged versions are supplied to customers by more than 300 ISPs …

Amnesty International says a security vulnerability in HomeKit was used to target iPhones belonging to Serbian journalists and activists.

The civil rights organization conducted an investigation after Apple notified two of the victims that their devices had been compromised by Pegasus spyware …

If you’ve ever wondered whether security cameras and alarms are effective at deterring burglars, the answer is yes – and that comes from a very reliable source: burglars.

KGW-TV asked 86 inmates convicted of burglary what would make them more likely to rob a home, and which things would deter them …

9to5Mac Security Bite is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Making Apple devices work-ready and enterprise-safe is all we do. Our unique integrated approach to management and security combines state-of-the-art Apple-specific security solutions for fully automated Hardening & Compliance, Next Generation EDR, AI-powered Zero Trust, and exclusive Privilege Management with the most powerful and modern Apple MDM on the market. The result is a totally automated Apple Unified Platform currently trusted by over 45,000 organizations to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

Last week, I received an interesting report from the security research arm of the popular Apple device management software firm Jamf that detailed a serious but now-patched iOS and macOS vulnerability. The finding was under embargo, but today, I can finally talk about it.

Jamf Threat Labs uncovered a significant vulnerability in Apple’s iOS Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) subsystem on iOS and macOS that could allow malicious apps to access sensitive user data completely unnoticed without triggering any notifications or user consent prompts.

A newly-released app lets you regularly scan your iPhone for Pegasus spyware – which can access almost all the data on a phone – for a one-off cost of just one dollar.

A mobile security firm created the app, which allows you to scan your iPhone or Android phone and send the results to them for analysis – and they’ve so far detected seven phones infected by the spyware …

9to5Mac Security Bite is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Making Apple devices work-ready and enterprise-safe is all we do. Our unique integrated approach to management and security combines state-of-the-art Apple-specific security solutions for fully automated Hardening & Compliance, Next Generation EDR, AI-powered Zero Trust, and exclusive Privilege Management with the most powerful and modern Apple MDM on the market. The result is a totally automated Apple Unified Platform currently trusted by over 45,000 organizations to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

Each year, Moonlock Lab, the cybersecurity research wing of MacPaw, releases an annual report detailing the current state of the macOS threat landscape. On Tuesday, Moonlock Lab released its 2024 Threat Report, detailing how AI tools like ChatGPT are helping to write malware scripts, the shift to Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS), and other interesting statistics it’s seeing through internal data.

Popular video conferencing platform Zoom agreed to pay $85M in compensation back in 2021 after it was revealed that the company lied to users about the type of encryption it offered. It has now offered to pay an $18M fine to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to settle an investigation into the same security and privacy issue.

Zoom disclosed the offer in a regulatory filing …

9to5Mac Security Bite is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Making Apple devices work-ready and enterprise-safe is all we do. Our unique integrated approach to management and security combines state-of-the-art Apple-specific security solutions for fully automated Hardening & Compliance, Next Generation EDR, AI-powered Zero Trust, and exclusive Privilege Management with the most powerful and modern Apple MDM on the market. The result is a totally automated Apple Unified Platform currently trusted by over 45,000 organizations to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

Corvus, one of the leading cyber insurance providers, has published its quarterly Cyber Threat Report for Q3 2024, focused on the shifting ransomware landscape. While the rising number of ransomware attacks should be no surprise to anyone, the report outlines how cybercriminals are becoming more competitive and adopting more aggressive strategies rather than waiting for the next mass-exploit event.

If your iPhone or iPad is too old to run iOS 18, or if you’ve simply held off updating by choice, Apple is still providing key security fixes for you. The latest arrive in today’s iOS 17.7.2 and iPadOS 17.7.2, which are available now.

Apple has released a variety of new software updates today, including iOS 18.1.1 for iPhone users. Here’s what to expect from this latest update.

It’s a little-known fact that before emails reach your inbox, they pass through a buffer designed to scan and block malicious content. However, over time, email providers—especially Gmail—have shifted their focus to just adding “warning labels” to those with suspicious links or attachments. This approach, best described as “beating around the bush” hasn’t reduced threats much at all. Shockingly, 91% of all cyberattacks still originate from emails. So, what gives?

9to5Mac Security Bite is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Making Apple devices work-ready and enterprise-safe is all we do. Our unique integrated approach to management and security combines state-of-the-art Apple-specific security solutions for fully automated Hardening & Compliance, Next Generation EDR, AI-powered Zero Trust, and exclusive Privilege Management with the most powerful and modern Apple MDM on the market. The result is a totally automated Apple Unified Platform currently trusted by over 45,000 organizations to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.