The summer keeps on heating up, so why not stay inside where it’s cool, and relax with the newest edition of The Checklist? As the temperatures outside climb, the headlines in the world of Mac security and beyond keep piling up too. This week, we’re…
July 5, 2018 • 18 min read
A strong passcode is one of the most important elements of personal security on iOS devices. While it has been some time since Apple introduced the stronger six-digit passcodes (which they now recommend), many people continue to use the four-digit PIN. According to one recent…
July 3, 2018 • 2 min read
Apple’s Swift programming language is a useful tool for developers on Mac and iOS platforms due to its versatility and wide-reaching application. Occasionally, though, Apple uncovers issues within Swift that could unintentionally allow bad actors to make inroads towards attack execution. A new Swift module…
July 2, 2018 • 2 min read
It seems like it was just yesterday that we were kicking off the new year and wondering what the months ahead would have in store for us. As we head into the first sweltering days of summer, it’s safe to say that the first half…
June 28, 2018 • 17 min readCode signing is one of the most important lines of defense against malware. It allows a user to know that the software they intend to install or run came from a trusted source, such as Apple, or another trusted developer. While code signing is not…
June 26, 2018 • 2 min read
How can programmers keep track of all the changes that get made to a piece of software during its development while keeping everyone else on the project in the loop? Answering that challenge is the purpose of what is known as a “version control system.”…
June 25, 2018 • 2 min read
Facebook quietly funneled private user data to device-makers like Apple via hidden partnerships. The New York Times exposes how this sharing bypassed privacy settings and extended third-party access well beyond Facebook’s platform.
June 21, 2018 • 15 min read
Welcome to Episode 93 of The Checklist. Today, our attention turns towards security and insecurity — but we’re not talking about a long-lost Jane Austen novel. Instead, we’re taking a tour through the headlines to hit some of the big and interesting stories that have…
June 14, 2018 • 15 min readWhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by Facebook, is arguably one of the most popular means for secure communication in the world. Facebook says that more than a billion and a half users trade nearly sixty billion messages across WhatsApp every day. Because the software…
June 7, 2018 • 3 min read
In many of our recent episodes, we’ve spent plenty of time talking about data breaches, a subject that often dominates security conversations these days. For good, reason, too, as everyone from major credit bureaus such as Equifax to retail store chains have lost or mishandled…
June 7, 2018 • 15 min read
The 2018 parade of big tech and security headlines continues, and in recent episodes, we’ve touched on some pretty big developments. From Cambridge Analytica and Facebook scandals to the rollout of the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe, we’ve covered some major issues so far…
May 31, 2018 • 14 min read
Imagine if whenever you went to buy something — a car, perhaps — the information you handed over in the purchasing process became public record for anyone to see and search. All they’d have to do is plug your license plate in, and they’d be able to see your name, address, and phone number.
May 24, 2018 • 17 min readSecurity researchers use many tools to conduct their work; in many cases, the best way to test a system is to try to break in, because it allows one to identify all the weaknesses and potential inroads a real hacker might exploit. These tools aren’t…
May 23, 2018 • 3 min readEmail encryption is supposed to make the content of your emails safer, but according to a team of nine academic researchers, two of the most widely used encryption standards might be doing the opposite. In a tweet sent on May 14, 2018, Sebastian Schinzel, a…
May 21, 2018 • 3 min readThe General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is a new set of European Union rules that govern the ways businesses and online organizations treat user information, in particular the data belonging to EU citizens. The GDPR introduces a wide range of regulations, chief among them new restrictions on how third parties can process, store, and handle user information.
May 18, 2018 • 3 min read
There are some items of technology in our lives that are so standard and ubiquitous because of how fundamental they are to the way things work that it’s very easy to take them for granted. Because we don’t pay a second thought to these things,…
May 17, 2018 • 15 min read
Only a few weeks after the recent release of macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, Apple has amended the update by publishing an additional fix under this version number. Addressing a new flaw described as “serious” by the security community, the supplemental version of 10.13.4 addresses a…
May 16, 2018 • 2 min read
How do you unlock your iPhone when you need to use it? Apple gives us a ton of options when it comes to keeping our information safe from prying eyes and unwanted intruders, from PINs to our fingerprints and our faces. Apple’s commitment to empowering…
May 10, 2018 • 12 min read
Welcome to Episode 87. Last week, we took an in-depth look at data breaches: from how they happen to a few of the biggest ones, and of course, what you can do to protect yourself when a big company loses your data, we covered a…
May 7, 2018 • 14 min read