“The software is functioning as intended,” said Amber. “Wait,” I asked, “so it’s supposed to delete my personal files from my internal hard drive without asking my permission?” “Yes,” she replied.
I had just explained to Amber that 122 GB of music files were missing from my laptop. I’d already visited the online forum, I said, and they were no help. Although several people had described problems similar to mine, they were all dismissed by condescending “gurus” who simply said that we had mislocated our files (I had the free drive space to prove that wasn’t the case) or that we must have accidentally deleted the files ourselves (we hadn’t).
Read moreApple iPhone users are notorious for their slight indulgence towards those who prefer alternative platforms. Android is constantly under attack by malware and Trojans, they say, while iOS is immune to threats. Is it really that secure as Apple fans see it?
The answer is: no, it isn’t. In this article we will discuss several types of attacks which are as bad for the iPhones as they are for other devices. Phishing attacks target ‘what’s between a chair and a keyboard,’ meaning the users themselves. Phishers typically prey on human carelessness or a lack of overall awareness of security issues. It might seem as if the attributes of a phishing attack are known to everyone.
Read moreWhen the FBI bought a hacking tool to break into an iPhone, it wasn’t sure what exactly it got for its $1.3m. The FBI confirmed it wouldn’t tell Apple about the security flaw it exploited to break inside the iPhone 5C, because the bureau says it didn’t buy the rights to the technical details of the hacking tool.
The unusual declaration likely will raise only more curiosity about the FBI’s last-minute abandonment of its high-stakes court battle with Apple. The day before the two were schedule to face off in court over whether the government could force Apple to unlock the phone, the government announced it no longer needed Apple’s help.
Read moreUS authorities asked for user data from Apple accounts 1,015 times during the second half of 2015, according to figures the iPhone maker released Tuesday. The requests pertain to information on services such as iMessages, emails, photos and device backups.
The number of requests is up from 971 during the first half of last year and 788 during the last six months of 2014. Apple provided at least some data in response to 82% of the requests, about average for the California technology company. The requests from various US government law enforcement agencies, which are only disclosed in broad ranges, also appeared to go up during that time.
Read moreFor years, business-focused versions of Windows have had an AppLocker feature that lets you blacklist or whitelist apps. It's undoubtedly helpful for companies eager to keep malware or just risky software off their network.
A researcher in Colorado has discovered a feature in Regsvr32 that allows an attacker to bypass application whitelisting protections, such as those afforded by Microsoft's AppLocker. If the technique is used, there's little evidence left behind for investigators, as the process doesn't alter the system registry and in some cases comes across as normal Internet Explorer traffic.
Read moreA couple of security experts demonstrated that iOS date bug was still present in iOS devices and it was exploitable by spoofing an Apple NTP server. Do you remember the Apple iOS date bug?
In February, the security community highlighted the existence of the embarrassing problem for Apple iOS mobile devices running 64-bit iOS 8 or higher, the issue affects the Apple iOS date and time system and could be triggered by setting the date to January 1, 1970. The news appeared in Reddit discussions warning users about a flaw that could brick iPhone forever. When connected to public Wi-Fi, iPhone calibrates its time settings with an NTP server.
Read moreThe FBI cracked a San Bernardino terrorist’s phone with the help of professional hackers who discovered and brought to the bureau at least one previously unknown software flaw, according to people familiar with the matter.
The new information was then used to create a piece of hardware that helped the FBI to crack the iPhone’s four-digit personal identification number without triggering a security feature that would have erased all the data, the individuals said. The researchers, who typically keep a low profile, specialize in hunting for vulnerabilities in software and then in some cases selling them to the U.S. government. They were paid a one-time flat fee for the solution.
Read moreApple refused to give the FBI software the agency desperately wanted. Now Apple is the one that needs the FBI's assistance. The FBI announced Monday that it managed to unlock an iPhone 5c belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters without the help of Apple.
And the agency has shown no interest in telling Apple how it skirted the phone's security features, leaving the tech giant guessing about a vulnerability that could compromise millions of devices. "One way or another, Apple needs to figure out the details," said Justin Olsson, product counsel at security software maker AVG Technologies.
Read moreThe Justice Department said on Monday that it had found a way to unlock an iPhone without help from Apple, allowing the agency to withdraw its legal effort to compel the tech company to assist in a mass-shooting investigation.
The decision to drop the case — which involved demanding Apple’s help to open an iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, a gunman shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., ends a legal standoff between the government and the world’s most valuable public company. The case had become increasingly contentious as Apple refused to help the authorities, inciting a debate about whether privacy or security was more important.
Read moreApple has begun designing its own servers partly because of suspicions that hardware is being intercepted before it gets delivered to Apple.
"Apple has long suspected that servers it ordered from the traditional supply chain were intercepted during shipping, with additional chips and firmware added to them by unknown third parties in order to make them vulnerable to infiltration, according to a person familiar with the matter," the report said. "At one point, Apple even assigned people to take photographs of motherboards and annotate the function of each chip, explaining why it was supposed to be there.
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