SecurityIn recent days, several major tech companies have formally disavowed and discontinued use of a Chinese security certificate provider, WoSign. The abandonments began when Mozilla announced that WoSign was not following best practices in issuing its certificates. The primary concern lies in the fact that WoSign was back-dating certain website certificates to circumvent checks that prevent expired certs from working. After Mozilla’s announcement, Apple quickly also said that they would distrust and ban all WoSign certificates. Not long after, Google followed by announcing the search giant would also distrust WoSign …
November 9, 2016 •
2 min read
SecurityTen years ago, the idea of powerful, portable tablets in everyday use around the world seemed closer to science fiction than reality. With the incredible success of the iPad and the ignition of a booming market for tablets, though, they’re now as ubiquitous as cell phones. They make appearances everywhere from school classrooms to corporate boardrooms. Because so many of us now use our iPads as part of our daily lives, keeping them secure is a top priority. Should you ever lose your iPad to theft or misplacement, no one …
November 9, 2016 •
3 min read
SecuritySince its inception in 1999 SecureMac has evolved into the foremost resource devoted to Macintosh security. Originally founded on the basis of raising awareness about Mac security, and to act as a Apple-oriented news portal, we soon grew into a reliable consulting resource. Our rapid growth has seen us expand our team and develop MacScan and PrivacyScan – our principal products for security, privacy, and anti-malware.
Today, SecureMac is a significant contributor to the Mac security sector. Over the years, we have received numerous accolades and awards, reinforcing our …
November 4, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityOn today’s show we’re going to cover what makes a piece of spyware different from a worm, and what makes a keylogger different from adware. Once you can tell the difference between the different types of malware, you’ll be better prepared to understand just how the different types of threats can affect *you*, and which ones are worth losing sleep over!
November 3, 2016 •
9 min read
SecurityThere’s no denying that Apple has completely changed the way we interact with and think about software, especially on mobile devices. Nearly a decade after its release, the App Store serves up hundreds of thousands of apps that are downloaded billions of times by people around the world. Even the word “app” itself entered our vocabularies largely as a result of mobile software.
Today, “apps” even appear on desktop computers, from Google Chrome’s store to Microsoft’s focus on desktop-based apps. The ease of installation — often just a …
October 28, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityWhen the first computer networks were connected, it’s unlikely the engineers had any idea of what was to come. Today, with the ubiquity of the Internet and digital electronic devices, a world without networks and instant global reach seems almost entirely foreign. While these systems power the connectivity of our smartphones and let us watch funny videos online, they also do much more.
Our digital infrastructure forms the backbone of modern financial institutions, power production, industry, and much more. Computers play a fundamental role in many sectors. To …
October 27, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityOn today’s episode, we’re hitting best practices when it comes to login and password security — simple steps you can take to keep your accounts from falling into the wrong hands, and what to do in the event that your password has been compromised.
October 27, 2016 •
10 min read
SecurityOn today’s episode, we’re talking about the latest version of Apple’s desktop operating system, the newly rebranded macOS Sierra. Specifically, we’re going to be focusing on some of the new and expanded security features found in macOS 10.12.
October 20, 2016 •
9 min read
SecurityInternet criminals can be pretty devious, and it’s becoming increasingly harder to determine legitimate sites from fake ones these days. In today’s episode, we’ll go over five ways to identify and avoid online scams, helping to keep your personal data (and the contents of your bank account!) out of the hands of online con-artists.
October 13, 2016 •
11 min read
SecurityMac users who haven’t yet updated from OS X El Capitan to the brand new macOS Sierra might want to make doing so a priority. According to security site Dark Reading, there is a new Trojan out in the wild that is targeting OS X. Any machines running any incarnation of the OS X operating system could be vulnerable to the threat.
The initial discovery of the Trojan was by a Palo Alto Networks research team, who codenamed the threat “Komplex.” The researchers said that the Trojan is the …
October 12, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityUPDATE 01/23/17 : Skype patches privacy concern in OS X version
There’s a new app out there that Mac users would be wise to consider installing. It’s called OverSight and is designed to alert Mac users whenever their microphones or webcams are activated. The application is currently available for free download here.
Patrick Wardle, a former NSA employee, and noted security researcher developed OverSight and recently presented the technology at the Virus Bulletin conference in Denver, Colorado. Wardle’s presentation showed how it would be possible for malware to …
October 11, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityOn today’s episode, we’re going to run down a checklist of steps to take before selling, donating, or giving away your old Mac. These steps will ensure the secure removal of your personal information and data from your old computer, and help make your transition to a new computer go as smoothly as possible.
October 6, 2016 •
13 min read
SecurityLas Vegas, NV, October 4th, 2016 – SecureMac, one of the key contributors in the Mac security world, today announced the release of PrivacyScan 1.9, its popular privacy protection software for Mac users. PrivacyScan 1.9 includes support for macOS Sierra (10.12) and addresses other bugs from earlier versions of the software.
“It’s been well documented that there has been a dramatic increase in threats against Mac users in the past several years,” said Nicholas Raba, President of SecureMac. “We spend our lives striving to keep the Mac user-community as safe …
October 4, 2016 •
2 min read
SecurityIn today’s episode, we’re covering the remaining five items on our list of 10 things to do when setting up a new Mac. We’ll be covering specifics when it comes to protecting your data, and discuss the best ways to safeguard your privacy.
September 29, 2016 •
5 min read
SecurityEvery fall without fail, Apple does two things: unveils a new iPhone and releases new operating systems for its mobile and desktop devices. As of Tuesday, September 20th, the new operating system update for desktop and laptop computers is available. Called macOS Sierra, the operating system is the first Mac OS not to bear the OS X name. It also adds several new features, including Mac support for Siri (previously only available on iOS devices), iCloud optimization, greater integration with the iPhone and the Apple Watch, and more.
Unsurprisingly, …
September 27, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityAt one point in time, the idea that we might have to worry about hackers attacking our phones would have been fanciful. Similarly, the thought of a private group using software to spy on individuals through their phones might have felt more at home in a movie. Yet with Apple’s release of the iOS security update 9.3.5 and their urgent insistence for all users to upgrade immediately, it’s hard to deny that is the technological reality.
Known as Pegasus, the software exploited a now-patched vulnerability which allowed it …
September 26, 2016 •
3 min read
SecuritySeveral popular children’s websites have agreed to a court settlement for tracking kids’ activities on the web. The sites collectively will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by Eric Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York. Schneiderman discovered that the sites in question were monitoring kids online and tracking their movements to advance their marketing agendas.
While this type of behavior is legal (and common) with adult users, Internet tracking and targeted advertising gets into dangerous territory when monitoring kids. Schneiderman’s investigation found that the websites in …
September 26, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityIn this week’s episode of The Checklist, we discuss the first five items on our list of 10 things to do when setting up a new Mac to strengthen your security. Next week, we’ll cover the remaining five items, including specifics on protecting your data and safeguarding your privacy.
September 22, 2016 •
5 min read
SecurityOver the past few years, there has been an undeniable explosion in the popularity of using “the cloud” for services as diverse as music streaming, web hosting, and file storage. One of the earliest, biggest, and most continually influential players in cloud services is Dropbox. As the company that brought cloud storage and file syncing into widespread use, it’s easy to ascribe safety and security to the Dropbox brand based on popularity alone. In spite of its presence on many platforms including OS X and its everyday use in business …
September 21, 2016 •
2 min read
SecurityThough the threat of computer viruses once lurked primarily in the domain of email attachments and suspicious file downloads, the current landscape is vastly different. Simply doing damage to a system and spreading a virus further is no longer the biggest threat. From spyware to any of the many flavors of malware, there are many new and evolving security issues facing computer systems globally. Ransomware continues its rise to prevalence as infections rise year over year, compromising more machines. Ransomware, a type of malware which locks down user access to …
September 16, 2016 •
3 min read