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

Jailbroken iPhones leave users more vulnerable

Sumner Lemon — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:03:00 -0700

Jailbreaking an iPhone leaves users more vulnerable to attack by stripping away most of its security protections.

Apple patching serious SMS vulnerability on iPhone

Sumner Lemon — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:04:00 -0700

Apple is patching a serious SMS vulnerability in the iPhone, a security researcher said.

Facebook simplifies privacy settings, calls them too complex

Juan Carlos Perez — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:15:00 -0700

Facebook is simplifying its privacy options and getting ready to let its members share content with anyone on the Internet if they want.

New Trojan puts sneaky twist on click fraud

Jeremy Kirk — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:04:00 -0700

A new piece of malicious software has been discovered that cheats Google and potentially other search engines out of money.

Out of business, Clear may sell customer data

Robert McMillan — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:25:00 -0700

Out-of-business airport security provider Clear may sell customer data to another Registered Traveler provider.

Adobe issues security update for Shockwave Player

Jeremy Kirk — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:17:00 -0700

Adobe Systems released a patch on Tuesday for its Shockwave Player to fix a critical vulnerability.

Google fixes 'critical' security hole in Chrome

Juan Carlos Perez — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:18:00 -0700

Google has identified a critical security hole in Chrome and fixed it in the latest release of the browser.

NetShred X updated for Safari 4

Peter Cohen — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:12:00 -0700

The Internet security software NetShred X has been updated with support for Safari 4.

Security improvements punctuate iPhone 3.0

Peter Cohen — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:08:00 -0700

Extensive security changes have been made to iPhone OS 3.0. Here is a synopsis of some of the major changes.

Google to try more security on Gmail

Robert McMillan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:31:00 -0700

Google will test a more secure version of its Gmail service using HTTPS in response to urging from privacy advocates.

Hacker cracks TinyURL rival, redirects millions of Twitter users

Gregg Keizer — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:59:00 -0700

A URl-shortening service that condenses long Web address for use on services like Twitter was hacked over the weekend.

Apple Java update fixes security hole

Peter Cohen — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:06:00 -0700

Apple has, at long last, addressed security problems with Java that Sun fixed more than six months ago.

Mozilla patches 11 Firefox bugs, six critical

Gregg Keizer — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0700

The Firefox 3.0.11 update patched 11 vulnerabilities, with more than half of them labeled critical by Mozilla.

1Password adds support for Safari 4

Peter Cohen — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:14:00 -0700

1Password, the password management software for Mac OS X, has been updated to support Safari 4.

Office updates from Microsoft tackle security

Philip Michaels — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:58:00 -0700

Updates for Office 2004, 2008, and the Open XML Convertor fix a vulnerability that would have let attackers insert malicious code on a Mac. The Office 2008 update also preps the program for a promised Entourage update due later in 2009.

T-Mobile confirms stolen data is genuine

Jeremy Kirk — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:45:00 -0700

T-Mobile confirmed on Tuesday that internal information posted on the Internet by hackers was stolen from its systems.

iPhone OS 3.0 adopts some BlackBerry-like security

InfoWorld staff — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:22:00 -0700

With the forthcoming iPhone 3.0 update, the iPhone is moving a bit closer to enterprise requirements, according to InfoWorld.

Man made $112,000 in bank account hacking scheme

Robert McMillan — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:37:00 -0700

A New Hampshire man has pleaded guilty to laundering money from hacked bank accounts.

CIOs: Your networks have already been compromised

Carolyn Duffy Marsan — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:50:00 -0700

NEW YORK CITY – CIOs should stop focusing on intrusion detection and prevention systems and start dealing with the computers on their networks that have already...

Adobe will deliver its first quarterly patches next Tuesday

Jeremy Kirk — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:43:00 -0700

Adobe Systems will deliver its first set of quarterly patches next Tuesday.

Hackers claim $10,000 prize for breaking into StrongWebmail

Robert McMillan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:00:00 -0700

Hackers are claiming to have won a $10,000 prize for hacking secure mail provider StrongWebmail.

The truth about Apple's security issues

Rich Mogull — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 04:45:00 -0700

Security expert Rich Mogull deconstructs Apple's failure to patch a Java security hole and the criticisms of those who think its security advertising rings false.

Patched QuickTime bug was hidden in book

Robert McMillan — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:15:00 -0700

The patches Apple issued for its QuickTime and iTunes software Monday fixed critical security flaws, along with a bug that was first hinted at earlier this year in a book on Macintosh computer hacking.

Review: Spector Pro mac 2009

Jeffery Battersby — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:00:00 -0700

Spector Pro mac 2009 is a powerful keylogging tool with the additional capability of giving you a visual representation of everything that is being done on a monitored computer at any point in time.

CIS issues free benchmark on iPhone security

Matt Hamblen — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:26:00 -0700

The Center for Internet Security today released what it termed the industry's only consensus security benchmark for the iPhone.

Twitter gets targeted again by worm-like phishing attack

Jeremy Kirk — Wed, 27 May 2009 06:02:00 -0700

Twitter users have been tricked into divulging their login and password details to a Web site that then spammed their contacts.

Review: eBlaster 2009

Jeffery Battersby — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:00:00 -0700

Key-logging software like eBlaster can secretly record all the keystrokes on one computer and surreptitiously send those keystrokes via e-mail to another. eBlaster works, and works quite well.

Symantec: 90 percent of e-mail is spam

Robert McMillan — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:39:00 -0700

Symantec says that 90 percent of e-mail is spam, a 5.1-percent increase over last month’s numbers.

Opinion: Time for the FTC to investigate Mac security

Ira Winkler — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:13:00 -0700

Writing for Computerworld, Ira Winkler is fed up with Apple's disregard for security.

GlimmerBlocker blocks Web ads

Deborah Shadovitz — Sun, 24 May 2009 05:01:00 -0700

GlimmerBlocker is an ad blocker that is safe to install because it doesn’t hack Safari.

Twitter hit with phishing attacks

Robert McMillan — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:03:00 -0700

Twitter was being hit Thursday by a new round of phishing attacks.

Easter eggs can bypass App Store approval

Cyrus Farivar — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:37:00 -0700

Lyrics developer Jelle Prins points out that sneaking hidden features into iPhone applications is easy, and Apple has no way of finding them.

Close the Java security hole in many browsers

Rob Griffiths — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:42:00 -0700

Rob Griffiths explains how to disable Java in many popular OS X browsers, to protect yourself from the recently-revealed Java applet security hole.

Apple lags on Java security fix in OS X

Dan Moren — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:40:00 -0700

A Java vulnerability, fixed six months ago by Sun, remains at large in OS X even as of the last major system update.

Google Street View hits privacy gridlock in Germany

Jeremy Kirk — Wed, 20 May 2009 07:21:00 -0700

Germany and Google remained at odds Wednesday over how the company holds certain data used for its Street View map imagery.

Fraudulent iTunes charges are worth watching for

Dan Moren — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:15:00 -0700

iTunes accounts make a tempting target for credit card fraudsters and identity thieves who can easily turn its gift certificates into cash.

Phishers harvest Facebook passwords for profit

Gregg Keizer — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:59:00 -0700

The recent round of Facebook phishing attacks are most likely efforts aimed at harvesting passwords for profit, a security researcher tells Computerworld.

Facebook slammed with another phishing attack

Brennon Slattery — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:32:00 -0700

Facebook was hit with yet another phishing attack Thursday as malicious e-mails went to some of the social networking site's 200 million users.

Researcher: Microsoft puts Mac users at risk with patch policy

Gregg Keizer — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:49:00 -0700

A security researcher says Microsoft is putting Mac users at risk by fixing the Windows versions of PowerPoint while announcing that patches for the same flaws in the Mac editions would not be released until June.

Undercover software used to locate MacBook in Norway

Cyrus Farivar — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:02:00 -0700

Three months after his MacBook was stolen, a 23 year-old Norwegian man recovered the laptop with the help of the police and Orbicule's Undercover software.

Adobe fixes security holes in Acrobat, Reader

Jonathan Seff — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:39:00 -0700

Following up on a promise made last week, Adobe on Tuesday updated its Acrobat and Reader apps with security fixes.

Tiger gets security updates

Jonathan Seff — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:01:00 -0700

Apple on Tuesday addressed a number of security issues for those using OS X 10.4 Tiger.

Apple releases Mac OS X 10.5.7

Dan Moren — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:03:00 -0700

Apple has released the latest update to Mac OS X Leopard. Version 10.5.7 brings a number of fixes and security patches to Apple's operating system.

Safari 3.2.3 improves security

Peter Cohen — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:02:00 -0700

Safari 3.2.3 has been released; a new version of Apple's Web browser for Mac OS X 10.4, 10.5 and Windows.

Phished Facebook accounts become spammer's tool

Robert McMillan — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:07:00 -0700

Facebook accounts that were phished last week are now being used to send spam.

How to secure your home network

Glenn Fleishman — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:19:00 -0700

A reader writes Macworld, asking about the best way to set up a home network so both Macs and Windows PCs can securely connect to it, without letting any intruders in. Glenn Fleishman explains how.

Opinion: I got yer privacy right here, pal

Robert X. Cringely — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:33:00 -0700

How private is your information? Just ask Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who was the subject of a law class exercise to show just how easy it is to find personal information online.

Adobe promises fixes for latest flaws by next week

Jeremy Kirk — Mon, 04 May 2009 07:32:00 -0700

Adobe expects to have patches ready for its Acrobat and Reader products by next week.

ProteMac Meter network monitoring app updates interface

Peter Cohen — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:36:00 -0700

ProteMac Meter, the network monitoring app, sports a spruced up interface and other changes.

Hacker: I broke into Twitter

Robert McMillan — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:27:00 -0700

A hacker claims to have gained access to the administrative interface of a Twitter employee.