Security

Microsoft is renaming its Windows Defender antivirus software to Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), and bringing it to macOS for the first time.

While Macs are significantly less vulnerable to malware than Windows machines, they are not immune. Examples include fake Flash Player installers and cryptocurrency-stealing browser exploits and apps …

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Apple is one of a number of high-profile companies which had corporate data exposed through their Box accounts, an enterprise cloud storage service.

In all, cybersecurity firm Adversis found that data from more than 90 companies was exposed …

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A new post from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) today has announced a new initiative called “Fix It Already.”  The first post describes specific privacy and security issues that Apple and eight other major tech companies should fix right now.

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The Cellebrite Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) is a smartphone hacking tool commonly used by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies in the US and elsewhere. It’s the most powerful tool yet created by the Israeli company, able to extract a huge amount of data – even data which has been deleted from phones.

A brand new one normally costs $5,000 to $15,000 depending on the model, but older models can be found on eBay for as little as $100 …

A report from TechCrunch details three new serious security flaws in both 4G and 5G networks and one of them affects all four major US carriers in addition to many more networks around the world. The vulnerabilities allow attackers to track a user’s location as well as intercepting phone calls.

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Yesterday, 9to5Mac was alerted to a flaw in a third-party utility app for Instagram, called Exposure. The app helps brands connect with Instagram posters, automating the collection of agreements to use imagery for commercial purposes.

It just so happens that Apple was using this tool for its Shot on iPhone campaign. 9to5Mac contacted Apple to report the security issue. Following an investigation, a few hours later, Apple cut ties with the Exposure service. (Update: Statement from the parent company of Exposure below)

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An attempt by Apple to protect your Safari browsing history in macOS Mojave has a security hole which allows full access by a rogue app, says a Mac and iOS developer.

Prior to Mojave, your browsing history was freely available to any app that looked inside  ~/Library/Safari. In macOS 10.14, however, Apple locked down access so tightly that you can’t even list the contents in Terminal – in theory …

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A new Apple patent application suggests that the company has boosted the security of Face ID in order to defeat the attack method demonstrated in 2017, when a specially-designed 3D-printed mask was able to unlock an iPhone X.

The attack was a sophisticated one, meaning that ordinary users didn’t have much to fear, but the security researchers did suggest that high-profile targets – like company CEOs – might want to avoid using Face ID …

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Following the release of iOS 12.1.4 this afternoon, a top Google security engineer revealed two zero-day security threats. Ben Hawkes, team leader at Google’s Project Zero security team, revealed the existence of the vulnerabilities on Twitter this afternoon.

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A new report from Motherboard today looks into the world of hacking iCloud-locked iPhones. While turning on Find My iPhone (which enables the iCloud lock) is generally thought to be quite secure, Motherboard highlights several ways that thieves, hackers, and coders are getting around the security feature to sell stolen (and non-stolen) devices.

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A WhatsApp update yesterday added the option of using Face ID to protect your chats, and that’s an option I think could be usefully added to other apps – including some of Apple’s own.

One could question the value. After all, locking your phone protects all your apps, so why bother offering app-by-app protection too … ?

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Apple has today released an update on the FaceTime eavesdropping bug and offered an apology. The company says it has patched the flaw on its servers and will roll out an update to iOS users next week to bring back Group FaceTime with the bug fixed. It also makes a promise to improve how it handles bug reports and its escalation process.

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Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) – the UK equivalent of the NSA – is calling on Apple and other tech companies to secretly add law enforcement agents to Messages chats, FaceTime calls and other forms of encrypted chat on demand.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has said this would be like the recently-discovered FaceTime bug, only worse …

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Earlier this month we saw what was considered to be the largest ever dump of stolen internet accounts with 773 million email addresses and 21 million passwords. The dump of compromised accounts was called “Collection #1”. Now, Collections #2-5 have been dumped and the numbers are staggering: 845GB of stolen data that includes 25 billion total records and 2.2 billion unique usernames and passwords.

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CookieMiner is the latest Mac malware to be discovered. It’s highly targeted, using a clever technique to try to steal your cryptocurrency.

Discovered by security researchers from Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42, it uses a two-fold attack method to obtain your login credentials and bypass two-factor authentication …

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