Lex Friedman at Macworld tries to figure out why some iTunes accountholders are seeing small charges made against gift-card and other credits in their accounts while their passwords remain secure. It’s a mystery, and Lex says there’s no answer to it yet.

Lion leverages lessons learned from iOS to be Apple’s most significant security update to Mac OS X ever. Here are four security key changes, why they matter, and what we can expect in the future.

Please welcome our latest TidBITS sponsor, the Apple-focused Internet security software maker Intego!

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is seeking public comment on new proposed guidelines for mobile medical apps to ensure they don’t pose a risk to patients. But the proposal is quite narrow; it’s aimed only at apps that are used as an accessory to an FDA-approved medical device or turn the mobile device into something that would otherwise be regulated by the FDA. Still, if you’re interested in this field, now is your chance to register your comments.

iOS updates close an SSL-related security vulnerability that could enable protected communications to be captured or modified by someone on the same network.

iOS updates close a PDF-related security vulnerability used in a jailbreaking technique.

When discussing actions that could violate someone’s privacy, the “nothing to hide” argument is often raised as a reason not to worry. In this excerpt from his book “Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff Between Privacy and Security” in The Chronicle of Higher Education, author Daniel J. Solove points out that there are multiple types of privacy-related problems, and that the “nothing to hide” argument focuses largely on surveillance and disclosure of personal information while ignoring privacy issues related to aggregation, governmental powers, secondary use, and distortion, among others. It’s an essential read for anyone struggling with the tensions surrounding privacy, security, and commerce.

Code 42 Software has supplemented its backup offerings for individual users and enterprises with a new backup service tailored for the small and medium-sized business market.

Apple has released what is very likely its last pre-Lion Mac OS X update, bundling in bug fixes, security improvements, and enhancements that prepare the Mac App Store for the release of Lion.

At the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2011 conference, Jeff Porten describes and comments upon the keynote delivered by Senator Pat Leahy.

From the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2011 conference, Jeff Porten reports on a panel that discussed the role online media played in the Arab Spring revolutions.

At the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2011 conference, Jeff Porten passes on details of two additional talks, one on how teens view online privacy, and the other about data retention policies and their possible effects.

At the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2011 conference, Jeff Porten listens in on the debate about the proposed Do Not Track header that would theoretically prevent companies from tracking your online activities.

Adobe has released an update to Flash Player that both fixes an important security vulnerability and provides automatic update notification for the future.

Apple has updated Mac OS X 10.6.7 to remove and prevent infections of the MacDefender malware.