Mac security news and reviews, including virus, security, phishing, and more

Will secret copyright treaty restrict your digital rights?

Jeff Porten — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0800

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is rumored to outlaw your iPod, but the treaty's text is secret.

Google's Chrome OS stands to make waves

Dan Moren — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:57:00 -0800

Google's Chrome OS may be a year away from shipping, but the potent mixture of one of tech's most prominent companies and the mostly stagnant OS market is worth watching.

Agile Web Solutions releases 1Password 3

Nicholas Bonsack — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0800

After two private betas and a public beta, the well-received Mac OS X password manager 1Password 3 has been officially released.

SSL flaw could have been used to hack Twitter

Robert McMillan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:54:00 -0800

A researcher has shown how to hack Twitter using a previously disclosed bug in SSL.

Storm8 says phone-number lawsuit lacks merit

Lex Friedman — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:58:00 -0800

The company claims legacy code meant to identify iPhones mistakenly used phone numbers instead of device codes.

A practical approach to protecting trade secrets

Russell Beck and Matt Karlyn — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0800

When you think about security, you probably think about computer viruses and worms. But what about your trade secrets? Here how your company's IT department and lawyers can work together.

Flash flaw puts most sites, users at risk, say researchers

Gregg Keizer — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:49:00 -0800

Hackers can exploit a flaw in Adobe's Flash to compromise nearly every Web site that allows users to upload content, including Google's Gmail, then launch ilent attacks on visitors to those sites, according to security researchers.

Jailbreaking your iPhone: The pros and cons

Mike Keller — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:49:00 -0800

Suppose you’re interested in a relatively simple jailbreak to experience third-party apps on your iPhone. This has some definite advantages, but some cautions to consider as well.

Undercover 1.5 ousts iPhone thieves with push notifications

Nicholas Bonsack — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:54:00 -0800

Orbicule's Undercover 1.5 for iPhone introduces clever push notifications to the iPhone tracking app, specifically made to fool a thief into exposing his whereabouts.

Google's free airport Wi-Fi: Five ways to protect yourself

Jeff Bertolucci — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:27:00 -0800

Planning on taking advantage of free Wi-Fi at the airport during your holiday travels? Make sure you follow these tips for securing your wireless computing.

Secure your jailbroken iPhone with a password change

Dan Moren — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:54:00 -0800

A couple of vulnerabilities pray on jailbroken iPhones that use the same default password. Here's how to change that password to avoid getting bitten.

Data-stealing hack targets jailbroken iPhones

Dan Moren — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:09:00 -0800

Jailbroken iPhone users who have not changed their default root password may be at risk from a hack that can steal their data.

Apple releases Security Update 2009-006 for Leopard

Ramu Nagappan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:08:00 -0800

On Monday, Apple released a security update for users of OS X 10.5.8 and OS X Server 10.5.8.

Lawsuit claims iPhone games stole phone numbers

Lex Friedman — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:24:00 -0800

Storm8 is accused of gathering phone numbers from any iPhone where its free games were installed.

Integrate your iWeb site with Facebook

Adam Berenstain — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0800

Here's a few tips on bringing iWeb and Facebook together.

First iPhone worm spreads Rick Astley wallpaper

Robert McMillan — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:48:00 -0800

The iPhone's first worm is spreading, but it only affects certain jailbroken iPhones.

Kaspersky Lab releases antivirus app

Dan Miller — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:45:00 -0800

OK, so Mac malware is virtually nonexistent. But Kaspersky Lab says Macs can still transmit viruses to PCs, and its new product can help prevent that.

Vendors scrambling to fix bug in Net's security

Robert McMillan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:01:00 -0800

Vendors are now scrambling to patch a critical flaw in the SSL protocol.

New Mac 'game' plays Russian roulette with your files

Tony Craine — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:42:00 -0800

An artist tries to get gamers to think about their actions by creating an arcade-style game for the Mac that purposely deletes files from your hard drive as you score points.

DoorStop X security suite ready for Snow Leopard

Dan Miller — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:04:00 -0700

In addition to adding Snow Leopard compatibility to the suite's firewall and the firewall advisor, DoorStop X 2.3 also includes a new read-only mode in the firewall for non-admin users while the Who's There? Firewall Advisor offers an improved geo-location service.

Botnets contributing more than ever to click fraud

Jeremy Kirk — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0700

A company that tracks click fraud says more traffic than ever is coming from botnets.

With botnets everywhere, DDoS attacks get cheaper

Robert McMillan — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:25:00 -0700

Security researchers say the cost of DDoS attacks and other criminal services is dropping.

To boost security, Mozilla launches plugin checker

Robert McMillan — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:04:00 -0700

Mozilla has gone live with a Web page that tests to see if 17 popular Firefox plugins are up-to-date.

Report: New iPhone 3GS may be jailbreak-proof

Ian Paul — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:56:00 -0700

The cat-and-mouse game between Apple and a cadre of hackers continues as Apple is reportedly now shipping iPhone 3GS units that are jailbreak-proof.

McAfee security offering targets networks with Macs

Dan Miller — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:12:00 -0700

Aimed at everything from small- and medium-sized businesses to enterprises, McAfee Endpoint Protection for Mac includes protection against malware and spyware, as well as a firewall.

Google to send detailed information about hacked Web sites

Jeremy Kirk — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:33:00 -0700

Google will send Webmasters snippets of malicious code its scanners find in the hopes the Web sites can be cleaned up faster.

Mac News Briefs: Acrobat, Reader updates tackle security vulnerability

Macworld Staff — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:58:00 -0700

The 9.2 updates for Acrobat and Adobe Reader address vulnerabilities that could cause the applications to crash and potentially allow an attack to take control of the affected system. Also, SuperDuper and Cocktail both saw maintenance updates released on Tuesday.

A look at stolen Hotmail data finds simple passwords

Robert McMillan — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:09:00 -0700

A security researcher has analyzed 10,000 stolen hotmail passwords and found that many of them are easy to guess.

Google confirms Gmail phishing attack

Gregg Keizer — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:09:00 -0700

Google confirmed that passwords for its free Gmail online e-mail service had been harvested by hackers, but downplayed the phishing attack as involving a "small" number of accounts.

After attacks, Adobe patches now come faster

Robert McMillan — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:16:00 -0700

Adobe has worked to decrease the time it takes to rush out security patches, its CTO said Monday.

Cartoon you: Illustrator’s Live Trace converts your photo into a drawing

Pariah S. Burke — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Illustrator's Live Trace feature is the subject of our fourth article on how to create your own avatar portrait for social networking Web sites and instant messengers.

To fight online scammers, Bing shows warning ads

Robert McMillan — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:12:00 -0700

The FTC has teamed up with Microsoft to place public service announcements in search results when consumers search for scam-related terms.

Retrievable iPhone numbers mean potential privacy issues

Dan Moren — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:45:00 -0700

A loophole may allow app developers to retrieve your phone number; reports from Switzerland claim an app developer is using this information to upsell its customers.

Scareware sellers poison 'iPhone MMS' search results

Gregg Keizer — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:11:00 -0700

Criminals have poisoned major search engines for terms related to the new MMS capability of Apple's iPhone, and are using the results to steer users to fake Windows security downloads, according to the manager of security research at Websense.

Do phishers have more poles in the water?

Jeremy Kirk — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:15:00 -0700

Data on phishing attacks is often vastly different depending on the statistics collected by various vendors and other organizations.

Researcher: Hackers pay 43 cents per hijacked Mac

Gregg Keizer — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:46:00 -0700

Russian malware writers have put a price on the head of infected Macs -- 43 cents -- according to a security researcher.

Netflix Prize 2: What you need to know

Ian Paul — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:35:00 -0700

Is Netflix on the brink of a major data breach with its latest contest? Ian Paul of PC World tackles questions swirling around the Netflix Prize 2.

Study: Social networking sites leaking personal information to third parties

Jaikumar Vijayan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:40:00 -0700

Many major social networking sites are leaking information that allows third party advertising and tracking companies to associate the Web browsing habits of users with a specific person, warns a study by AT&T Labs and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Review: Private Pics for iPhone

Tim Mercer — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:26:00 -0700

If you've got photos on your iPhone or iPod touch that you want to keep out of the public view, both the free and paid versions of Private Pics can meet your needs.

New phishing attack chats up victims

Robert McMillan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:23:00 -0700

RSA says phishers are now using Jabber to set up fraudulent online chat sessions on their fake Web sites.

Opinion: Apple betrays the iPhone's business hopes

Galen Gruman — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Apple's fix of a security hole reveals a long-simmering flaw and makes many iPhones suddenly incompatible with Exchange

Xsan update fixes serious screen sharing security problem

Peter Cohen — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:26:00 -0700

Apple's latest update to Xsan Admin fixes a serious security flaw in its screen sharing tool.

Apple clarifies iPhone anti-phishing feature

Dan Moren — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:09:00 -0700

Over the weekend, Apple responded to questions about how the new anti-phishing feature of the iPhone 3.1 software works.

Apple releases Mac OS X 10.6.1

Dan Moren — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:14:00 -0700

Apple on Thursday released Mac OS X 10.6.1, which contains stability, compatibility, and security updates for all machines running Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

iPhone 3.1's anti-phishing: not better than nothing?

Dan Moren — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:43:00 -0700

The iPhone 3.1 update supposedly added anti-phishing protections, but it would seem that the system is buggy and inconsistent.

Mozilla releases Flash-checking security update

Robert McMillan — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:12:00 -0700

Mozilla has pushed out the Firefox 3.5.3 update, which checks for up-to-date Flash plugins.

Adobe unveils Flash Access 2.0

Jackie Dove — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:10:00 -0700

Adobe Systems has announced Adobe Flash Access 2.0, a key component of the Adobe Flash Platform, at the 2009 IBC (International Broadcasting Convention). Flash Access 2.0, formerly known as Adobe Flash Media Rights Management Server, is content protection software that lets content creators control how, when, and where audio and video content can be experienced by users.

Apple updates QuickTime for Leopard, Tiger users

Philip Michaels — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:27:00 -0700

According to Apple's notes, QuickTime 7.6.4 adds support for the newly released iTunes 9, improves audio device support for Windows Vista users, and fixes several security issues.

Firefox adds Flash plug-in update protection

Gregg Keizer — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:27:00 -0700

Mozilla says that future versions of Firefox will automatically check for updates to flash.

Thieves clear New Jersey Apple Store in seconds

Dan Moren — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:18:00 -0700

A band of thieves cleared out a new Jersey Apple Store's display MacBooks, iPhones, and iPod touches in a matter of seconds.