Checklist 192: Twitter Hack 2020

A 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.

Twitter hack was an inside job, sources say

On 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 …

EARN IT Act moves forward, worrying privacy advocates

The “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 …

Is Mac malware evolving?

Mac 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 …

Browser extensions and your privacy

afari is getting a major overhaul in macOS 11 Big Sur, and one of the most important privacy enhancements has to do with browser extensions

10 tips for getting back on the road again

Covid-19 lockdowns are starting to lift, and people are already beginning to travel for work and family reasons. We’ve shared cybersecurity best practices for travel before, but this year, there are some pandemic-related considerations to add to the list. 

Here, then, are 10 things to keep in mind if you’re going to be hitting the road in the coming months (starting with five “new normal” additions to the usual advice, and rounding things out with five always-relevant tips for secure travel).

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Security for new high school grads

It’s high school graduation time again! COVID-19 has brought some big changes this year, with drive-thru graduations and Zoom commencement speeches taking the place of traditional ceremonies. But despite the differences, one thing is guaranteed to remain the same: The bad guys will be targeting new grads for fraud, scams, and identity theft.

If you know a member of the Class of 2020, here are three things you can do to help keep them safe.

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Karen Gullo on government monitoring

Karen Gullo is an analyst and senior media relations specialist for Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). She is an award-winning journalist who has written for both The Associated Press and Bloomberg News. Her writing has focused on the intersection of law, politics, and technology. In her current role, Gullo supports EFF’s mission of defending civil liberties and enhancing rights in the digital world.

If you would like to learn more about Karen and her work, you can follow her on Twitter or read her past articles and blog …

What is Tor?

We’ll answer some common questions we’ve heard about Tor — touching on issues of functionality, safety, and privacy.

What is a DNS leak?

A security flaw known as a “DNS leak” that can reveal all of your web activity to your ISP — even if you’re using a VPN!

New unc0ver jailbreak works on all modern iOS devices

Just as Apple released iOS 13.5 to the world, hackers at unc0ver announced that they had developed a jailbreak that would work on devices running iOS 11 all the way up to the brand new iOS 13.5.

In what follows, we’ll try to answer some common questions about the unc0ver jailbreak. Along the way, we’ll discuss the whys and whats of jailbreaking, and explain what it all means for average iOS users in terms of security and privacy.

What is unc0ver?

Unc0ver is a jailbreak tool for iOS devices. It can be loaded …

The Senate votes for warrantless surveillance. Here’s what you can do.

The U.S. Senate recently voted to allow law enforcement and intelligence agencies to access people’s web and search history without a warrant.

In this article, we’ll unpack what that means for people living in or visiting the United States — and we’ll tell you what you can do about it.

The legal background

The vote was part of the debate over the re-extension of the Patriot Act, an Act of Congress passed shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks. 

The law grants government agencies broad surveillance powers when conducting investigations that bear on matters …