Objective by the Sea 2.0

Tthis weekend the glamourous Mediterranean enclave was all about Mac security, as it played host to the Objective by the Sea 2.0 conference. Billed as the world’s only conference dedicated to macOS and iOS security, OBTS is a two-day gathering of researchers and developers from around the globe.

macOS Receives Critical Supplemental Update for MacBook Pro

Following on the heels of Apple’s most recent raft of updates, which included macOS Mojave 10.14.5, the company has released another smaller update targeting specific MacBook Pro users. Apple suggests that all macOS users download and install the new supplemental update in order to take advantage of the latest security protections.

What’s in this latest update? The details aren’t quite clear; after nearly a week since the patch was released, Apple has not updated its online security page with any details. Instead, the company merely said that the update corrects “firmware …

Checklist 140: To Track or Not to Track?

On this week’s Checklist by SecureMac: Apps are talking in your sleep, A case against tracking software for kids, A followup on ZombieLoad, and Automatic updates and. FileVault.

Is your phone talking behind your back? It might seem like an odd question, but the answer might be as surprising to you as it recently was to some security researchers. Here’s another question: how closely should you monitor your kids? Despite the popularity of child tracking apps, today we’ll be making a case for why you shouldn’t rush out to install them. Those …

Checklist 139: 2FA 101

We mention two-factor authentication quite a bit, but it’s been a while since we took a close look. On this week’s Checklist by SecureMac: Different types of authentication, What kinds of accounts should employ it, and August tells a 2FA tale.

Apple Releases iOS 12.3 and Security Updates to Its Products

The newest array of updates from Apple has arrived, with an array of updates for a variety of products addressing numerous security concerns, some of them serious. While these updates, particularly iOS 12.3, also add several new and exciting features that are sure to please users, there are also new layers of security and fresh bug fixes going into place behind the scenes to keep iPhone users safe. Here’s how the updates break down:

iOS 12.3

More than 40 separate flaws were patched and fixed in this latest version of iOS, though …

Checklist 138: Any Times a Good Time for an Update

A tricky class of vulnerability rises from the grave to trouble us again, one of the world’s most popular communications apps turns out to have a glaring flaw in its code that requires an immediate update to fix, and it’s time again to update your Apple devices — those stories, and all the details you need to know, are right here on today’s show. Here are the stories we’re checking off our list:

Zombies on the ProwlNews of a WhatsApp VulnerabilityA Slew of Updates from Apple

It’s the night of living dead …

Checklist 137: Security Breach on Pump Four

On this week’s Checklist by SecureMac: Security breach on pump four, A U.S. city under cyber siege, and Keeping 12-year-olds off of dating apps.

Checklist 136: The High Cost of Free Viewing

On this week’s Checklist by SecureMac: Free viewing, plus bonus malware, 80 million households exposed, Is Facebook ACTUALLY working on user privacy?

Checklist 135: Share This Show

On this week’s Checklist by SecureMac, we talk over the digital facts of life with mom and dad. Our topics include: Ellen Degeneres is NOT giving things away on Facebook, How to share your wifi network (and why you may not want to) & Password safety: Because we keep being unsafe with our passwords

Checklist 134: Many Things, Revisited!

On this week’s Checklist by SecureMac: Worried about your internet of things things? Princeton has a tool for that!, Worried about hotels and data security? You should be!, Apple’s new steps against scammy subscriptions,and Facebook: amiright…?

Checklist 133: Hello, Turkmenistan!

On this week’s Checklist by SecureMac: More enterprise certificate abuse, Threats to put CEOs in the poker and A layer of certification for Mac apps.

Checklist 132: Soup, Salad, and a Security Breach

Do you eat at restaurants? Do you use a phone? Do you even, dare we ask… go shopping? Then boy, do we have an episode for you this week! These might sound like mundane questions, but with this week’s stories, we’ll see that sometimes that’s all you need to do to end up exposed to threats against your security and privacy. That’s not to frighten you, though — after all, knowledge is the best defense against these threats. We’re not only telling you about what’s happened already but how you …

iOS 12.2 Patches Majors Security Flaws; Users Should Update Immediately

It seems like only yesterday when Apple was taking Group FaceTime down to give itself time to fix a severe bug discovered by a teenager. In the latest round of updates, iOS received fixes for several bugs as bad or worse than the FaceTime issue that gained a lot of publicity. These, however, Apple kept under wraps until the latest version, 12.2, was ready for release to the public. That means that while no one was likely affected “in the wild” by these issues, it’s imperative to secure your device …

Apple Releases Security Updates for macOS

Apple recently released security updates across many of its products.

Apple Pushes Latest Round of Updates for a Variety of Products

It’s here: the latest round of updates for Apple products has arrived, and it’s a doozy. This series of updates is jam-packed with bug fixes and security updates that iPhone, iPad, and Mac users should all download right away to begin taking advantage of their added safety improvements. Products included in this set of updates are as follows:

Safari (12.1) tvOS (12.2) macOS Mojave (10.14.4) macOS High Sierra (Update 2019-002) macOS Sierra (Update 2019-002) iOS (12.2)

If you are using versions prior to those listed above, it’s time to update. Check your …

Checklist 131: The Good, the Bad, and the Buggly

On this week’s Checklist by SecureMac we’ll be discussing: The Good: Senators try to protect children’s data, The Bad: FEMA exposes the data of over 2-million disaster victims, and The Buggly: Apple fixes a boatload of security issues.

Checklist 130: A Sick Phone, Your Face, and MySpace

On this week’s Checklist by SecureMac we talk about: Viruses or Malware, Can iPhone get either?, Congress considers facial recognition legislation and MySpace teaches us all about backups.

iPhone Prototypes Find Their Way to Hackers and Researchers Alike

Have you ever wondered about how hackers or security researchers can figure out where the hidden flaws in iOS lay? For years, that’s been a big question, from concerns about how companies such as Cellebrite and GrayKey found their way into iOS to how researchers were able to examine how the Secure Enclave works. Thanks to a report by Motherboard picked up by Cult of Mac; we now have a better idea of what’s behind it all: internal prototypes somehow stolen from Apple and then re-sold on the gray market.

What …

Checklist 129: The Internet of Things and Other Things

On this week’s Checklist by SecureMac: Congress nibbles at the Internet of Things, Out of sight is not off the grid and A show worthy of a security conference.

Google Shares Details about a New macOS Vulnerability

On Friday, March 1, 2019, Google’s Project Zero announced that it had discovered a “high severity” vulnerability in Apple’s macOS operating system. The Project Zero team constantly works to find vulnerabilities in software and code from other companies and developers. When Project Zero does identify a weakness, it notifies the coder or developer behind the software. The developer then has a 90-day window to fix the issue before Project Zero announces the vulnerability to the world. In other words, Apple has known about this issue for a while and has …