For 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…
March 10, 2016 • 2 min read
In 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….
March 10, 2016 • 2 min readRansomware, 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…
March 10, 2016 • 4 min readCan 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…
March 8, 2016 • 3 min read
BitTorrent 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…
March 7, 2016 • 4 min read
Well, 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….
March 2, 2016 • 2 min read
Every 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,…
February 22, 2016 • 3 min read
In 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…
January 29, 2016 • 3 min readDesigned 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…
January 13, 2016 • 4 min read
So 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…
December 28, 2015 • 6 min read
For 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…
December 16, 2015 • 5 min read
Some 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
If 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,…
December 7, 2015 • 5 min read
These 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…
December 3, 2015 • 3 min read
With 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…
December 2, 2015 • 3 min readMalware is a generic term, referring to any program that can threaten the security of your computer. There are many different types of malware, including Trojan horses, keystroke loggers, hack tools, ransomware, spyware, and worms. Sometimes, these are combined to form ‘hybrid malware’, showing characteristics…
November 30, 2015 • 3 min readIf you by chance haven’t updated to Mac OS X 10.10 just yet (e.g., the Yosemite operating system update that first became available in October 2014), then you may want to hold off. According to a recent blog post by cyber security researcher Stefan Esser,…
November 30, 2015 • 5 min read
In a recent opinion piece for The Guardian, writer and technology professor John Naughton wrote about the ongoing war between Apple and Android for total dominance of the smartphone marketplace. The piece, titled “Security is the loser in the holy war between Android and Apple,”…
November 29, 2015 • 3 min read
Parents raising kids today are at a disadvantage. Thanks to the internet and the advent of countless other digital and networking technologies, modern parents have to deal with challenges and dangers that their parents never had to deal with. Worse, many of these dangers are…
November 27, 2015 • 3 min read