A strong passcode is one of the most important elements of personal security on iOS devices. While it has been some time since Apple introduced the stronger six-digit passcodes (which they now recommend), many people continue to use the four-digit PIN. According to one recent…
July 3, 2018 • 2 min read
Apple’s Swift programming language is a useful tool for developers on Mac and iOS platforms due to its versatility and wide-reaching application. Occasionally, though, Apple uncovers issues within Swift that could unintentionally allow bad actors to make inroads towards attack execution. A new Swift module…
July 2, 2018 • 2 min readCode signing is one of the most important lines of defense against malware. It allows a user to know that the software they intend to install or run came from a trusted source, such as Apple, or another trusted developer. While code signing is not…
June 26, 2018 • 2 min read
How can programmers keep track of all the changes that get made to a piece of software during its development while keeping everyone else on the project in the loop? Answering that challenge is the purpose of what is known as a “version control system.”…
June 25, 2018 • 2 min readWhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by Facebook, is arguably one of the most popular means for secure communication in the world. Facebook says that more than a billion and a half users trade nearly sixty billion messages across WhatsApp every day. Because the software…
June 7, 2018 • 3 min readSecurity researchers use many tools to conduct their work; in many cases, the best way to test a system is to try to break in, because it allows one to identify all the weaknesses and potential inroads a real hacker might exploit. These tools aren’t…
May 23, 2018 • 3 min readLas Vegas, Nevada — Concern for personal privacy in the digital world is at an all-time high, and with prominent stories about data breaches and leaks on the rise, users are right to want to take better control of their data. However, Mac users today…
March 23, 2018 • 3 min readFor several years now, a fierce debate has raged over how much access law enforcement organizations (LEOs) should be able to have to the mobile devices of those suspected of a crime. The issue made nationwide headlines after the San Bernardino attacks in 2015, when the FBI grappled with how to break into an iPhone used by one of the perpetrators. While the FBI did eventually retrieve device data by utilizing an unknown group to gain access to the phone’s encrypted contents, law enforcement agencies, in general, have maintained that they must have a “backdoor” to access info secured by your iPhone passcode. Apple has steadfastly refused to give in to such demands, but it appears that for now, those refusals don’t matter: LEOs can now use a pricey piece of hardware called GrayKey.
March 22, 2018 • 3 min read
The wave of cryptocurrency miners taking the place of common malware continues in 2018 unabated, and it appears every week we encounter another story about a website running surreptitious miners or a company looking for ways to use your CPU resources. As Mac users, we…
March 19, 2018 • 3 min read
A key piece of Apple’s iPhone source code may be out in the wild. On February 7, someone posted something called “iBoot” on GitHub. GitHub is a popular site for sharing computer code. This time, though, it appears the code in question was not the…
February 20, 2018 • 3 min readIn a world filled with “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices, there are security holes everywhere. Apple works hard on the hardened nature of its HomeKit system and the way these third-party devices interface with Apple products. So when news broke in early December that someone…
December 20, 2017 • 2 min read
The security built into our phones enables us to use them with confidence and peace of mind; after all, it is vital that we prevent unauthorized access to devices that contain so much personal information about our lives. However, these same safeguards also prevent barriers…
December 7, 2017 • 2 min read