SecureMac presents The Checklist. Each week, Nicholas Raba, Nicholas Ptacek, and Ken Ray hit security topics for your Mac and iOS devices. From getting an old iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, and other Apple gear ready to sell to the first steps to take to secure new hardware, each show contains a set of easy to follow steps meant to keep you safe from identity thieves, hackers, malware, and other digital downfalls. Check in each Thursday for a new Checklist!
Last week, we brought you Part One of our 2017 Security Year in Review. This week, we’ll wrap that up with Part Two! If you didn’t get a chance to check out Part One yet, the episode and its accompanying show notes are available right here in our archives. In it, you’ll find out about the highlights of the past year in both iOS and macOS security, including all the …
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For this, Episode 71 of The Checklist, we sat down during the first week of January 2018 to put a magnifying glass over the year that just ended. For part one of our discussion, we’re taking an in-depth look at the biggest security issues that affected macOS and iOS in 2017. With so many things going on — and there were quite a lot — it can be tough to remember all the details. To start our recap, we’ll go all the way back to this time one year ago: the beginning of January.
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For more than a year, we’ve been taking a little time every week here at The Checklist to bring you a podcast focused on and around the security of the Mac, iOS devices, and the Apple platform in general. We all know that was silly, though — after all, there aren’t any major security problems with Apple, right?
There is no such thing as 100% safe & secure, although …
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In Episode 68, we spent some time talking about all the ways the bad guys can try to target the elderly online and over the phone. This week, we’re running all the way down to the other end of the age spectrum to look at the ways troublesome bad actors might target your kids. We’ll also discuss how these nefarious rogues may set their sights on your children as a way to target you, the parent, as their endgame.
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As we went into Thanksgiving a few weeks ago, we urged you to have some proactive talks with your family about how to stay safe while using their computers, especially on the Internet. We also covered how you could take action to lay the groundwork to make sure everything stays in good working order. Now, as we head deeper into the holidays, we’d like to ask our listeners to …
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Recently, in episode 66, we looked at the latest security features Apple has built into macOS. Last week, we began to explore what’s new and different in iOS 11. While the basics of iOS haven’t changed in some time, time and different development approaches mean that all kinds of features transform behind the scenes with every update. We looked at the innovative FaceID system, improvements to backup security, and …
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Have we ever talked about the security features built into iOS itself? Of course — we’ve covered that subject in many previous episodes, but things change. When The Checklist began, users were still walking around with iOS 9. Now we’re up to iOS 11, and Apple continues to make things more secure as they go. Even before iOS 11, Apple’s mobile system had some serious security protections and features, but they’ve added some new ones and refined others, so it’s time to revisit the topic.
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For this week’s show, we’re back to talking about the Mac — more specifically, addressing some of the most important security features baked directly into macOS. What steps has Apple taken to keep users safe, and what tools are there to make sure we’re all enjoying our Macs safely and securely? Perhaps you know someone who is about to get a new Mac, or maybe you’re even the one giving …
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The holiday shopping season has arrived again — and with this episode, we’re turning our attention to some security issues specific to this time of year. With Christmas coming up, you might be looking at all kinds of electronic gadgets for your friends and family. From tech-based toys to Internet of Things products, retailers have more web-connected devices available for us every year.
While it’s certainly a fun time …
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During last week’s episode, our discussion centered around talking to your parents about the importance of computer security, and how to educate them on essential steps to take. This week, we’re going to move beyond the parents and look at their computers ourselves —with their permission of course! After your pep talk about strong passwords, you should hope to find their computer protected with a password you can’t guess.
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Remember back when you were a kid, and someone sat you down to have “The Talk”? It might have been your parents, or it could have been a teacher, but we’ve all been through the experience of learning about “the birds and the bees.” It’s a pivotal moment, and learning about the facts of life can be, well, life-changing. It’s also essential for keeping you safe as you continue to grow up. Well, now you’re grown — you’re older and definitely a little wiser. It might be time to sit down with your parents and have your own version of The Talk with them.
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For years, people laboured under the misconceptions that Apple hardware and operating systems were immune to the threats and malware faced by the people who use Windows. While macOS may be stronger in some respects, what made the Mac the safest was the fact that relatively few people used it compared to Windows. But times have changed! For most of the past decade, growth for Apple machines has outpaced …
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Our lives are on our computers and our phones: there’s no getting around that fact. One day, we might look back on that and view it as a mistake, but for now, our finances, health records, communications, family photos, videos, and more all live on these devices. Keeping that information safe is important, and there are several layers of complexity to that challenge. From password practices to two-factor authentication …
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Today, we’ll be tackling a couple of buzzwords in the tech industry today: blockchains and Bitcoins. Not unlike HTTPS and botnets, blockchain and Bitcoin are terms that are starting to seep into everyday use. Before we all start using them, though, we should figure out what they mean and how they work! In fact, the blockchain concept has even begun to garner its own “buzzword” status in the security …
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This week on the Checklist, we take on some of your questions and comments. Topics include: – Scam pop-us – App specific password requirements – Issues with SS7 – Oddity around an email address.
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Part 1 of a 2 episode series where we go over various questions from our listeners!
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This week, we’re tackling threats to your online privacy as well as online threats to your physical privacy.
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The “S” in HTTPS stands for secure. But why? And how does it work? All you need to know about secure browsing.
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The personal information of 143-million people may have been compromised when the consumer credit reporting agency Equifax was hacked. What do we know about the attack? And what can we do going forward?
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We know that an unsecured Internet of Things (IoT) thing like a light bulb or a web-connected picture frame can become part of a botnet or a dedicated denial of service attack. But how does that happen? That’s the topic of today’s show.
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