Security Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Hack in the Box conference features iPhone Dev Team

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 24th, 2012)

Turns out there are awesome conferences all over the world, and the hotness of mobile has only increased the number of quality get-togethers out there. Case in point: Hack in the Box, currently underway in Amsterdam. Learn more about the conference here or check out the agenda here. Friday ...

Kapersky "disappointed" he can't sell AV software on iOS

by Steven Sande (May 23rd, 2012)

Security wonk Eugene Kaspersky is not happy with Apple, since the company won't let his eponymous antivirus firm develop antivirus software for iOS devices. Speaking to The Register, Kaspersky went so far as to say "That will mean disaster for Apple," since malware targeting the mobile ...

Examining an iTunes Store account hack

by Kelly Hodgkins (May 16th, 2012)

ZDNet has a long report on a recently hacked iTunes account that involved a linked PayPal account. We've seen an increase in the number of hacked iTunes accounts in which people's gift card balance or linked accounts have been mysteriously drained. This report, like many others, leaves us ...

On the UDID ban: Tracking devices, users and advertisers

by TUAW Blogger (May 15th, 2012)

Over the past few weeks, several ad networks have announced "UDID-independent" conversion tracking tools. As Apple's UDID ban has gone into effect, mobile advertising has had to find other ways to track device users. The problem with this is, of course, that they're still tracking. Apple's SDK ...

Apple doesn't invite Kaspersky Lab to examine Mac security (Updated)

by Mike Schramm (May 14th, 2012)

Update: Engadget smelled something funny in this story, and turns out they were right; Kaspersky is now saying that the comment about "working with Apple to analyze OS X" was taken out of context, and that Apple has not invited the security firm to analyze its desktop OS. Full statement is ...

More updates: Safari 5.1.7 will block out-of-date Flash plugins, tech note updated on FileVault bug

by Michael Rose (May 9th, 2012)

It's a busy Wednesday in the software mines of Cupertino, as Apple followed up the release of OS X 10.7.4 with a patch to the Safari browser and a tech note detailing how to back out from the password/plain text issue in legacy FileVault accounts and other circumstances. Safari 5.1.7 patches ...

OS X Lion updated: 10.7.4 fixes FileVault vulnerability

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (May 9th, 2012)

Fire up Software Update if you're using Lion, and be prepared to have your passwords protected by encryption, as they should be. After a nasty error in 10.7.3, fixed in the just-out 10.7.4 update, I'm hoping Apple learned a lesson. The update also includes a few welcome fixes for other ...

Office for Mac 14.2.2 rollup patch now available (Updated)

by Steven Sande (May 9th, 2012)

Update: A reader tells us "After installing the updates from Microsoft, each of the programs wanted me to re-enter a product key as though I never entered one many months ago." He confirmed this as an issue according to a Microsoft support call, although we don't know how many people it might ...

Passwords stored in plain text after Lion update

by Kelly Hodgkins (May 7th, 2012)

Legacy FileVault users (those who used FileVault before Lion) running a recently updated version of Mac OS X Lion should consider changing their login passwords. According to a report in ZDNet, an Apple programmer inadvertently left a debug flag in the latest 10.7.3 version of Mac OS X that turns ...

Kaspersky Lab: Apple is '10 years behind Microsoft' on security

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 26th, 2012)

Kaspersky founder and CEO Eugene Kaspersky told Computer Business Review that malware targeting the Mac is beginning to grow and Apple needs to take notice. The CEO said Apple is "ten years behind Microsoft in terms of security," and asserts that Apple must change its approach towards ...

Norton introduces a password manager, Identity Safe (updated)

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Apr 23rd, 2012)

Norton, better known for its antivirus software, is attempting to take on AgileBits' 1Password with the release of Identity Safe, a password manager for the Mac. Like 1Password, it takes over the task of remembering passwords and generating new ones, keeping the information stored in the cloud. ...

Apple's additional security steps could be better

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Apr 23rd, 2012)

As we've been hearing, Apple is rolling out some "additional security" for App Store customers. When you go to purchase an app, as I just did (it was the free Pocket app, incidentally), you may be prompted to answer three security questions and provide a second email address in case your ...

Flashback infections down from over half a million to under 150,000 in eight days

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 18th, 2012)

According to Symantec, the OSX.Flashback.K infection is declining each day. The current number of infected Macs is now around 140,000, down from 600,000 a week ago. If you think you may be infected, you can run a Flashback removal tool from either Kapersky or F-Secure. Apple also has a tool ...

Flashback removal tool for no-Java 10.7 Lion now available

by Michael Rose (Apr 13th, 2012)

The security risks of having a Java virtual machine/runtime environment on your Mac have been highlighted over the past two weeks, as the Flashback trojan spread widely by taking advantage of a vulnerability that Oracle had patched months ago -- but that Apple had not. There is a mitigating ...

Apple asking for more security info for iOS devices

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Apr 13th, 2012)

While added security is nice, Apple appears to be rolling out additional security questions on iOS devices without warning. This has caught some users unaware, I think rightfully so. Then again, how do you message users of this kind of change? The Next Web has more details, but if you try to ...