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Adam Engst 15 comments

Move Downloaded Mac Apps Before Initial Launch

Howard Oakley explains App Translocation, a macOS security mechanism that protects against malicious plug-ins within benign apps but can occasionally cause first-launch crashes.

macOS Big Sur 11.6.6 and Security Update 2022-004 Catalina Agen Schmitz 20 comments

macOS Big Sur 11.6.6 and Security Update 2022-004 Catalina

Security patches for Big Sur and Catalina. (Free, various sizes, macOS 11 and 10.15)

macOS Big Sur 11.6.2 and Security Update 2021-008 Catalina Agen Schmitz 7 comments

macOS Big Sur 11.6.2 and Security Update 2021-008 Catalina

Patches security vulnerabilities in Big Sur and Catalina. (Free, various sizes, macOS 11 and 10.15)

Security Update 2021-003 Catalina and 2021-004 Mojave Agen Schmitz 8 comments

Security Update 2021-003 Catalina and 2021-004 Mojave

Patches security vulnerabilities in Catalina and Mojave. (Free, various sizes, macOS 10.15.7 and 10.14.6)

Josh Centers 45 comments

The EU Forces Open Apple’s Walled Garden

Apple is making major changes to how it distributes iOS apps in the EU due to the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act, but the company is making it clear that it’s only doing so under duress.

Adam Engst 33 comments

Apple Network Failure Destroys an Afternoon of Worldwide Mac Productivity

If you had problems launching apps on your Mac—or if it was just behaving weirdly—around 4 PM Eastern Standard Time on 12 November 2020, here’s why.

Glenn Fleishman 1 comment

Apple Opens “Find My” Crowdsourcing to Third-Party Accessories

In a move that has received little attention so far, Apple will let other makers’ products send privacy-protected “I’m lost” signals to Macs, iPhones, and iPads, as soon as year’s end.

Adam Engst Josh Centers 64 comments

Apple Releases iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, macOS 11.3, watchOS 7.4, and tvOS 14.5

Apple has once again released updates to all its core operating systems with a slew of shared features (Siri! Reminders!) and fixes (including worrying security vulnerabilities that are actively being exploited) and product-specific improvements (Apple Watch fallback authentication for mask-drive Face ID failures).

Glenn Fleishman 43 comments

Apple Justifies iOS App Store’s Tight Control in White Paper

Apple says that the dangers of allowing customers to load arbitrary apps are too severe and that the iOS App Store is a bulwark against ransomware, device hijacking, the invasion of children’s privacy, and other problems common on Android.

Curtis Wilcox 22 comments

Apple to Deprecate Scripting Languages in Future Versions of macOS

Apple says future versions of macOS won’t include a number of open-source scripting languages. The impact of this change will vary depending on the audience, but it will affect more people than you might think.

Rich Mogull 20 comments

Mojave’s New Security and Privacy Protections Face Usability Challenges

macOS 10.14 Mojave brings important security and privacy improvements to the Mac, but both Apple and developers need to work harder to avoid overwhelming users with a cacophony of alerts.

Adam Engst 32 comments

No Mac Is an Island with macOS Catalina

At WWDC, Apple threw back the curtains on macOS 10.15 Catalina, bringing the Mac ever closer to iOS without losing sight of what makes the Mac unique. We’re particularly impressed with the work the company did on accessibility features.

Josh Centers 5 comments

Mysterious DNS Hijacking Malware Targets Mac Users

A new piece of Mac malware is making the rounds. OSX/MaMi hijacks macOS’s DNS settings to intercept traffic by routing it through malicious servers. Additional capabilities, which didn’t seem to be active in the version that researcher Patrick Wardle analyzed, including taking screenshots, generating simulated mouse events, persisting as a launch item, downloading and uploading files, and executing commands. The motive, author, and how OSX/MaMi is spread are currently unknown, and when the Hacker News article was published, antivirus apps weren’t able to detect it. To see if you’re infected, check your DNS settings in System Preferences > Network, and look for the DNS servers 82.163.143.135 and 82.163.142.137. But unless you did something to bypass macOS’s Gatekeeper security, you likely have nothing to worry about since the malware’s executable isn’t signed by Apple.

TidBITS Staff No comments

ExtraBITS for 22 January 2018

In ExtraBITS this week, Apple has been hit by a double dose of bad: a new form of DNS hijacking malware that targets the Mac and another crashing link bug for Messages in both macOS and iOS.

Adam Engst 31 comments

Apple’s Termination of App Store Affiliate Payments Is Unnecessary, Mean-Spirited, and Harmful

As of 1 October 2018, Apple will stop paying affiliate fees on apps purchased through recommendation links. It’s a small-minded, unpleasant move that can’t benefit Apple in any significant way but will hurt many small publishers, although TidBITS won’t be affected.