SecurityStarting this year, Apple will begin making its own, ARM-based processors for the Mac. In this episode of The Checklist, we take a look at the background to this change, as well as what it means for Mac users:
Intel vs ARMApple Silicon Macs and performanceApple Silicon Macs and security
Goodbye Intel, Hello ARM
When Apple announced their move from the Intel to the ARM processor architecture, it was clearly big news. But it also left many folks with a pretty basic question: What’s the actual difference between the two?
At a hardware level, …
July 30, 2020 •
12 min read
BlogThe U.S. government has issued an alert warning that there is an increased danger of cyberattacks on civilian infrastructure. The alert comes from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA).
July 30, 2020 •
5 min read
BlogA week behind us, the great Twitter hack is still unfolding. We’ll look at what we think we know so far and why the hack itself matters on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
July 23, 2020 •
6 min read
SecurityApple will soon begin transitioning away from Intel CPUs and switching to ARM processors instead. In this article, we’ll try to answer frequently asked questions about the change, offering some context to Apple’s decision and explaining what it all means for Mac users — especially in terms of performance and security.
ARM vs Intel: What’s the difference?
To start with the obvious, there are two different companies involved: Arm Holdings and Intel. The two companies have significantly different business models. Intel is both a designer and manufacturer of processors, whereas Arm does …
July 17, 2020 •
10 min read
SecurityTikTok. Harmless fun? Or existential threat to the United States? The answer you get depends on who you ask. This week we have a special guest to help us discuss the question in depth — and we’ll get into the larger issues with apps, user data, and digital privacy.
TikTok, apps, and your privacy
In recent weeks, the popular video-sharing app TikTok has made headlines for its practice of monitoring iOS pasteboard data. The pasteboard — kind of a system-wide clipboard for iOS that lets apps access the information copied there — …
July 17, 2020 •
19 min read
BlogOn Wednesday, multiple verified, high-profile Twitter accounts were compromised, including the accounts of Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple. Hackers made tweets requesting charitable donations in the form of Bitcoin, promising to double any contribution made within the next 30 minutes. The tweets were, of course, fraudulent — and the Bitcoin wallet addresses set up to accept the cryptocurrency “donations” belonged to the scammers.
Twitter reacted quickly to the attack, removing the offending tweets, locking down affected accounts, and preventing users from tweeting or resetting their passwords as the company attempted …
July 16, 2020 •
2 min read
BlogThe “EARN IT” Act is slowly making its way through the U.S. Senate. Despite strong public criticism, an amended version of the bill was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in early July, setting the stage for full hearings in the near future.
In this article, we’ll discuss the background to EARN IT, and let you know why some people say it’s a serious threat to free speech and digital privacy.
What is EARN IT?
EARN IT (Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies) is the name of a bill currently …
July 15, 2020 •
4 min read
BlogMac malware is increasing in quantity, and many security researchers say it’s becoming more sophisticated as well. While some Mac users are still a bit blasé about the threats facing the platform, the last few weeks have provided two great examples of the evolution of Mac malware. In what follows, we’ll fill you in on the details, and offer some thoughts about what it all means for the future of macOS security.
Old malware, new delivery method
Security researchers at Intego recently spotted what seemed to be a new variant of Mac …
July 13, 2020 •
5 min read
SecurityThis week, we dive a bit deeper into some WWDC20 announcements with developer Brett Terpstra
July 9, 2020 •
10 min read
Blogafari is getting a major overhaul in macOS 11 Big Sur, and one of the most important privacy enhancements has to do with browser extensions
July 8, 2020 •
8 min read
SecurityIn the movies, bad guys are often taken down by a tech vulnerability. This week, we revisit our look at how best practices could make bad guys better at being bad.
July 2, 2020 •
1 min read
iOSTikTok has been caught snooping on iOS users’ clipboard data. The video-sharing app’s troubling behavior was discovered thanks to a new privacy feature in iOS 14
June 30, 2020 •
4 min read