Security Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Java for OS X 2012-003 update kills Flashback malware, available now

by Steven Sande (Apr 12th, 2012)

Just this morning we noted that Apple had not yet come out with a tool to kill the Flashback malware, and that Kaspersky and F-Secure had both developed their own free tools. This afternoon, Apple released Java for OS X 2012-003 to remove "most common variants of the Flashback ...

Apple responds to Flashback trojan, promises removal tool

by Michael Rose (Apr 10th, 2012)

In a tech note published today, Apple discussed the Flashback trojan (past coverage here) and reminded users of OS X 10.6 and 10.7 that they should install the April 3 Java update to remove the vulnerability that the malware uses to infect Macs. For users of OS X 10.5 Leopard or earlier, Apple ...

Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET: Fighting Flashback

by Michael Rose (Apr 8th, 2012)

As this holiday weekend draws to a close, the unfortunate fact is that we may be dealing with the largest Mac-centric botnet ever documented in the wild. While the Flashback trojan is easy to find and simple to prevent -- in fact, a stock Lion installation includes neither Java nor the Flash ...

Facebook, Dropbox iOS apps contain security hole that could allow identity theft (Updated)

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Apr 6th, 2012)

Updated with comment from Dropbox, note regarding LinkedIn and clarifications throughout. Let's clear this up quickly: Yes, there's a security hole in the Facebook app. The Next Web also confirmed the same issue in the Dropbox app, and a commenter below suggests that Vimeo and Tumblr official ...

How to find/remove the Flashback trojan

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 5th, 2012)

According to Russian antivirus firm Dr. Web, over 600,000 Macs worldwide are infected with the Mac flashback trojan. The trojan can be installed if you visit a malicious website, and it will attempt to connect your Mac to a botnet. Fifty-seven percent of infected machines are located in the ...

Australian government approves iOS for managing classified data

by Steven Sande (Mar 30th, 2012)

Government officials Down Under can start doing their happy dance; the Australian Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) has given the thumbs-up for the use of iOS devices for handling data classified at the "Protected" level. The security evaluation by the DSD is apparently the first of its kind ...

Talkcast tonight, 7pm PT/10pm ET: Security Edition!

by Kelly Guimont (Mar 25th, 2012)

It's Sunday, and like a lot of Sundays, we'll be Talkcasting it up starting at 7PM Pacific time, 10pm Eastern. We'll discuss security instead of turning up our noses at the need. In fact, we will be chatting with George Starcher, since he just dropped all kinds of science about this very topic on ...

Apple keeps your iCloud data safe

by Steven Sande (Mar 22nd, 2012)

Now that Apple is asking us to entrust our address books, calendars, files, photos, music and more to iCloud, many Mac and iOS users might be asking the question: "Is it safe?" Chris Foresman over at Ars Technica looked into the security of iCloud and concluded that "The simple answer is that ...

Google explains how and why Safari privacy settings were circumvented

by Kelly Hodgkins (Feb 17th, 2012)

In response to a Wall Street Journal report claiming that Google bypassed Safari privacy settings to track ads on both Apple computers and iOS devices, the company released a statement today from Rachel Whetstone, SVP of Communications and Public Policy. The search giant contends that the ...

Google allegedly bypassed privacy settings to track user browsing in Safari

by Chris Rawson (Feb 17th, 2012)

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google has been bypassing privacy settings in Safari intended to block websites from tracking user activity across the Internet. Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer discovered that Google had been implementing code that bypasses Safari's user-determined privacy ...

Mountain Lion's Gatekeeper adds additional security options to OS X

by Mel Martin (Feb 17th, 2012)

With the many updates and new features announced for the upcoming OS X release of Mountain Lion, one may have slipped by, but it's an important feature. It's also likely to become controversial. Gatekeeper gives users some extra security when running third party software. Apple says Gatekeeper will ...

Mac OS X's 'QuarantineEvents' keeps a log of all your downloads

by TJ Luoma (Feb 14th, 2012)

Mac OS X users are familiar with warnings like the one shown here. Apple's "quarantine" has been in place for awhile, and it offers some minimal protection against accidentally opening files which have been downloaded from the Internet. What most Mac OS X users probably don't know is that Mac OS X ...

Fake Apple billing email is circulating

by Kelly Hodgkins (Dec 28th, 2011)

Not surprisingly, scammers are targeting Apple customers with a fake phishing email asking them to update their account billing information. People who are new to Apple and probably received their first Mac or iOS device during the holiday season are particularly vulnerable to this scam. This ...

Managing 12,000 iPads: SAP CIO shares lessons learned

by Mike Schramm (Dec 23rd, 2011)

SAP's CIO Oliver Bussmann has a singularly interesting point of view on using the iPads in a business environment: He oversaw the implementation of iPads at SAP, which was an early adopter of using Apple's tablet in a full-scale company. He recently talked with the folks at InfoWorld, and says ...

iMessages reportedly still sent to stolen iPhones (Updated)

by Kelly Hodgkins (Dec 20th, 2011)

Update: Daring Fireball pointed to this recommendation from Jesse Hollington: set a SIM PIN code, which will prevent your phone from registering with the cellular network after a reset or a SIM swap until/unless the PIN is entered. Be extremely careful, however, as the iPhone settings UI can be ...