SecurityAvailable for $9.99 from the Mac App Store, the DataVault Password Manager from Ascendo is a robust password management application that is worth the modest price of admission. The program allows you to store passwords, login details, credit card information, membership information, insurance details, vehicle information, and more—all in one secure spot on your computer.
The program uses 256-bit AES encryption to protect your passwords and other sensitive information and has a range of other security features that will help you feel safe, as well. You can even …
March 18, 2016 •
5 min read
SecurityCould you be rendering your Mac vulnerable to cyberattacks, just by running several popular applications? That’s the contention being made by security researchers, according to a recent report from Ars Technica. The report highlights popular BitTorrent downloading program uTorrent and screen-cropping video software Camtasia among “a large number of Mac apps” that are likely putting users in danger.
A Man-in-the-Middle Attack
So what’s the problem? According to the Ars Technica report, the danger here is what is called a “man-in-the-middle attack.” In this type of attack, a hacker hijacks a …
March 16, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityAnother day, another Mac malware threat to be aware of. The latest threat comes in the form of typosquatters, who are targeting make users who accidentally mistype URLs while browsing the web. According to a post written by Tom Spring on Threatpost, the Kaspersky Lab security news service, users who accidentally type .om (instead of .com) while browsing the web leave themselves open to the threat.
As with most two letter URL suffixes, .om is the top level domain for a foreign country (in this case, Oman of the …
March 15, 2016 •
2 min read
SecurityLast year, the spyware developer Hacking Team seemed to go down in flames after a massive internal leak exposed the company’s dirty secrets for the world to see. Prior to that occurrence, the Milan-based firm had been in operation since 2003, selling products to governments, law enforcement, corporations, and other entities to help them spy on customers or private citizens. From monitoring emails to breaking encrypted communications, all the way to covertly activating webcams, Hacking Team traded in software that gleefully wrecked privacy rights and laundry lists of other …
March 14, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityFor weeks, Apple and the FBI have been arguing with one another over matters of privacy, cybersecurity, and national security. In February, the FBI issued a court order demanding that Apple help them break the iPhone’s security measures. Specifically, the government wants Apple to write software that would allow the FBI to get around iPhone encryption and other security safeguards.
Right now, the FBI wants to crack the iPhone that belonged to the terrorist behind the San Bernardino, California shooting that took place on December 2, 2015. In …
March 10, 2016 •
2 min read
SecurityIn an age where wireless internet is available just about everywhere, the wired Ethernet protocol may well be a technology of the past. If you were using an Ethernet port on a Mac computer recently, you might have even noticed that it stopped working entirely. Now, Apple has addressed the issue and released a rather complex fix for the problem on their support site.
According to Apple, the malfunctioning Ethernet ports were the result of a software update that included a flawed version of “Incompatible Kernel Extension Configuration Data.” …
March 10, 2016 •
2 min read
SecurityRansomware, as its name implies, is a type of malware that tries to extort money from computer users by holding their systems ransom. One of the newest types of malware to hit the scene, ransomware is an attractive choice for cyber criminals because it presents them with a very clear means of making money off their victims. Ransomware preys on the idea that computer systems and everything they hold (documents, photos, financial records, mp3 files, etc.) are of such vital importance to most people that holding them ransom is …
March 10, 2016 •
4 min read
SecurityCan you count on Gatekeeper, Apple’s proprietary malware blocking tool, to keep your computer safe? The jury is still out on that question, but one researcher has at least done his part to make Gatekeeper a bit more efficient.
Last year, Patrick Wardle of the cybersecurity firm Synack discovered not one but two major security holes in the Gatekeeper tool. He showed how both of those holes could allow a piece of malware to bypass Gatekeeper altogether and infect a Mac computer.
How Gatekeeper Works
To understand how Wardle …
March 8, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityBitTorrent Client Exposes Users to First Known Piece of OS X Ransomware
Unlucky BitTorrent users who installed the latest version of Transmission over the weekend unwittingly exposed themselves to the first known piece of ransomware seen in the wild for OS X. According to a report published on March 4th by the Palo Alto Networks Research Center, hackers figured out a way to bundle ransomware with two different installers for Transmission 2.90. Transmission bills itself as a “fast, easy, and free BitTorrent client.”
According to the Palo Alto Networks report, …
March 7, 2016 •
4 min read
SecurityWell, you could never say that Apple doesn’t take security threats seriously. Last year, a security firm called LegbaCore built one of the most serious threats yet to Mac computers. Typically, Macs have been known for having far, far fewer viruses and worms than PCs. For the most part, that lack of attacks has had more to do with market share than anything else. Hackers and cyber criminals can benefit more from creating viruses and malware for Windows PCs, simply because there are more Windows PCs out there than …
March 2, 2016 •
2 min read
SecurityEvery year, SplashData compiles a list of the most common and least secure passwords. In January, the company unveiled their “Worst Passwords of 2015” list. Hopefully, the feature can serve as a sobering reminder to Apple users—and frankly, to everyone—that some passwords really are plainly, objectively weak.
As you will see from looking at the list, most of the worst passwords of 2015 were the weakest passwords in years past, as well. The top two (or bottom two) picks were “123456” and “password,” both of which were unchanged from …
February 22, 2016 •
3 min read
Security
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- Last updated:
- 02/09/16 9:14 pm
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Description
Pintsized is a trojan horse.
Pintsized Threat Removal
MacScan can detect and remove Pintsized Trojan Horse from your system, as well as provide protection against other security and privacy threats. A 30-day trial is available to scan your system for this threat.
Download MacScan
February 9, 2016 •
1 min read
SecurityIn a recent feature covering some of the biggest hacks and data breaches of 2015, ZDNet dropped a chilling statistic: “Almost every American has been affected by at least one data breach this year.” Indeed, it was the year of the data breach, a year that saw everyone from retailers to the government facing cyber security disasters.
The Data Breaches
On the retail or consumer end of the spectrum, drug stores like CVS, Walgreens, Costco, and Rite Aid were all hit, with customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, and credit information compromised in …
January 29, 2016 •
3 min read
SecurityDesigned exclusively for Mac OS X, and including full support for Apple’s latest release of OS X 10.11 (El Capitan), MacScan 3 provides protection against the continued growth of malware by offering advanced detection and removal of security and privacy threats.
SecureMac, the leader in security solutions for OS X, today introduced MacScan 3, the next generation of its flagship anti-malware software for Mac users. MacScan 3 offers an all-new approach to the way we protect against security and privacy threats, including a streamlined user experience, new features, and major improvements …
January 13, 2016 •
4 min read
SecuritySo you’ve just purchased a new Mac computer, be it a laptop or a desktop, and you can’t wait to dive in and start moving all of your files and data over to the new machine. Before you do any of that, though, there are a few steps you should take to ensure the overall safety and security of your new computer.
One of the great things about Mac is that Apple really designed them to be used right out of the box, providing users with a range …
December 28, 2015 •
6 min read
SecurityFor the 2021 version of this guide, covering both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, click here.
So you’ve decided to sell your old Mac, give it away to a friend or relative, or donate it to a school or nonprofit. Regardless of what you are planning on doing with a computer you don’t want to use anymore, there is one thing you definitely don’t want to do: sell it or donate it without first cleaning out the hard drive.
If you’re like most people, your Mac is a …
December 16, 2015 •
5 min read
SecuritySome 13 million customers of anti-virus software, MacKeeper, had their personal data exposed recently due to a major security oversight on the developer’s database. The customer data included full names, usernames, emails, hashes of passwords, phone numbers, IP addresses, system info and other personal information.
December 14, 2015 •
2 min read
SecurityIf you are using a Mac (or any computer, for that matter), it’s a concrete fact that you are eventually going to download something from the Internet. Whether it’s a new app from the App Store, a piece of free software from a third-party source, a movie or TV show, a song or album, an eBook, or even just an email attachment, the act of downloading and uploading files is something that most of us do every single day.
But how can you be safe about downloading from …
December 7, 2015 •
5 min read
SecurityThese days, everything and everyone is connected. At work, we communicate as much via email as we do face-to-face. At home, our primary means of interacting with friends and acquaintances is through social media. Add the ever-expanding “Internet of Things,” which connects everyday objects and appliances like refrigerators and even cars to the internet. Sure, all of this connectivity can be convenient at times, but how does someone maintain their privacy in a world where privacy is, largely, a thing of the past?
Luckily, there are steps you …
December 3, 2015 •
3 min read
SecurityWith many of the “predictions” laid forth in futuristic films like Back to the Future and Minority Report coming true, it’s easy to feel like we are at a peak or plateau of the technological revolution in our society. However, while smartphones, social media, streaming music and video, and a slew of other inventions have changed our lives drastically over the past decade, the truth is that change is only going to continue as technology evolves further. The only question is, which big innovation will come next?
The Pros and …
December 2, 2015 •
3 min read