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Some iOS Users Report Call Issues After Latest Update

October 22, 2018 by Joseph Martin

This hasn’t been a great month for two of the titans of tech. Both Apple and Microsoft have been plagued with bug-riddled updates to their operating systems. In Apple’s case, their new iOS 12 had to be patched just three weeks after its release because of all the bugs the company’s burgeoning user base discovered almost immediately after updating.

Unfortunately, the 12.0.1 patch seems to have created almost as many issues as it solved for some users. In particular, some users are reporting network and signal connectivity problems, leading to an increasing number of broken calls. It has created such a stir that it’s even caught the attention of national media.

A recent Forbes article had this to say:

“Since upgrading, owners of both new and old iPhones are finding their phones either don’t make or receive calls. Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi and battery-related issues are again surfacing on an iOS generation which Apple has promoted as being all about efficiency, stability, and speed.”

We’re also seeing an interesting incarnation of the law of unintended consequences where iOS 12 is concerned. One of the things Apple did differently in this latest version of the OS was to reorganize how the OS recognizes people in your contacts list, referring to the Apple ID number.

Unfortunately, many users tended to group contacts under a common Apple ID (family under one, co-workers under another, and so on).

Recently, select users got a shock when they used iMessage to send a note to a friend and wound up sending it to a whole group, simply because iMessage uses the same Apple ID that now organizes your contacts. The company issued a quick patch to fix that, but as you might expect, it caused a fair amount of concern for the short period the but/unintended consequence existed.

All that to say, Apple is off to a rocky start with iOS 12. So far, at least, we’ve been underwhelmed. The promised speed, stability and efficiency isn’t being delivered.

Joseph Martin

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Apple IOS12 Users’ Photos And Contacts May Be Vulnerable

October 13, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Jose Rodriguez, a Spanish Apple enthusiast, has discovered a new security flaw to be aware of. He posted a Proof of Concept video showing the exploit in action.

We’ll say upfront that this is a highly convoluted attack involving more than two dozen discrete steps. A hacker would need to be in possession of the phone to pull it off, so it’s not something that’s likely to become a major threat.

Even so, we’ll provide the details below.

Apple has built in security measures that are designed to prevent someone from tricking Siri into allowing unauthorized access to the phone. Unfortunately, by using a complex series of steps involving both Siri and Apple’s Notes application, it’s possible for a hacker to bypass those security measures, access images stored on the phone, and then change the image associated with a contact or the owner of the phone.

This method is effective on both iOS12 and the iOS 12.1 beta, which means that Apple’s recent patch to their OS does not and will not prevent this exploit from working. Worse, the company has yet to comment on the matter, so at this point, there’s no timetable for a fix.

The independent news site Threatpost has been able to replicate the attack, so we have third-party confirmation.

Fortunately, there’s a simple way to negate the attack entirely while we’re waiting for a patch to close the loophole once and for all. Simply go to Settings – Face ID & Passcode – Touch ID & Passcode, and disable the “Allow access when locked” option for Siri.

Again, it’s important to reiterate that this is a highly complex attack that involves having both physical access to the device and more than two dozen steps, so this is not an issue that’s likely to be widespread. Even so, it pays to take precautions until Apple can roll out a fix.

Joseph Martin

An Exploited Website Can Cause Apple Products To Crash

September 28, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Users of Apple tech have a new reason to worry. A security researcher named Sabri Haddouche, who works for an instant messaging app called “Wire,” has published a proof of concept web page. It contains a fatal exploit that can crash and restart iPhones, iPads and any Mac.

Essentially then, the entire Apple ecosystem is vulnerable. Worse, the security flaw can be exploited using nothing more than CSS and HTML code. The flaw resides in Apple’s WebKit, which is its web rendering engine used by all apps and browsers running on Apple’s OS.

Haddouche tested the exploit using Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and the Safari web browser. He got the same result each time using both a MacBook Pro and an iPhone X. Apple users are advised to exercise extreme caution when visiting any web page until a patch can be issued.

The company is currently investigating the issue, and to this point has not given their legions of users a timeframe for a possible fix.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time a flaw like this has been discovered, and it’s unlikely to be the last. If there’s a silver lining, it is that Apple has historically been quick to patch flaws of this kind, and it should be noted that Linux and Windows systems are not affected.

It’s especially worrisome for small business owners, and until Apple gives us a time frame for a fix, your best bet is to steer clear of any websites but those that are business critical, and trusted sites that you know to be safe.

Although the exploit was specifically engineered to crash Apple devices, it’s easy enough to envision a nastier implementation which could critically damage the OS, rendering the device targeted by the attack completely inoperable. Stay vigilant, and stay tuned for a fix to what could be a devastating issue.

Joseph Martin

Amazon Joins Trillion Dollar Club

September 18, 2018 by Joseph Martin

It’s official, Apple now has company in the Trillion Dollar Club as Amazon’s stock surged past $2,000, briefly pushing the company’s total value to just over the trillion-dollar mark.

This makes the company’s CEO Jeff Bezos the richest person in the world, with a net worth estimated at around $166 billion dollars.

Amazon started out as just another internet company struggling to turn a profit. Over the years, however, the company has become a true retail powerhouse, and a disruptive force in the industry.

Some analysts predict that the company’s stock price is poised to climb even higher. Brian Nowak, (an analyst at Morgan Stanley) cities some reasons for his continued optimism. These include the company’s rapid growth, their improving business mix and their profit potential. Overall, Amazon’s total value only trails Apple’s by about $100 billion.

The last twelve months have been kind to Amazon, and the company has seen its stock price surge nearly 75 percent. The company is aggressively expanding into new businesses and finding success in doing so, which is exciting investors. Last year, for example, Amazon purchased Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, and recently acquired the online pharmacy, PillPack.

While there are only two members of the trillion-dollar club, there are two other companies poised to join their ranks. Both Microsoft and Google’s parent company, Alphabet are currently valued at about $850 billion. A modest nudge in either company’s stock price could push either of them into the trillion-dollar stratosphere.

Although there are a number of analysts who are excited by the stock’s future prospects, there is also some cause for concern. At current prices, the stock is trading at nearly 100 times earnings, which is nearly five times the broader market’s P/E ratio of 21. Then there’s the considerable risk that Amazon may suffer from a regulatory crackdown, given its size and dominance in the market.

Even so, it’s great news, and even better if you already own Amazon stock!

Joseph Martin

Some Apple iPhone 8’s May Have A Manufacturer Defect

September 10, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Do you own an iPhone 8? If so, you may have problems. Apple has recently reported that a small percentage of iPhone 8s “contain logic boards with a manufacturing defect.

Affected devices may experience unexpected restarts, a frozen screen, or won’t turn on.”

The company has isolated the defect to phones manufactured between September 2017 to March 2018, in Hong Kong, India, Japan, China, New Zealand, Macau, and the United States.

To find out if you’ve got one of the impacted iPhone 8s, head to the company’s website and use the tool they’ve placed there, entering your phone’s serial number. If your phone is one of the defective devices, Apple will repair it free of charge for up to three years after the sale.

Note, however, that some types of damage may incur fees to repair, specifically in the instance of a cracked screen or similar.

Apple’s handling of the issue has so far been quite good. They were quick to acknowledge the mistake and isolate it to a very specific frame of time, and equally quick to create a checking tool. Their repair policy is generous, as is the impressive three-year window.

It’s unfortunate that the manufacturing error occurred. However, the reality is that many companies would not have been as forthcoming as Apple has been, nor as generous with their repair policy.

Kudos to Apple for their handling of the issue. If you’re considering buying a new iPhone, don’t let this hiccup change your mind. Although the company isn’t perfect, you’ll find few companies that can top Apple in terms of taking care of their customers. There’s a reason their customers are more like fans, and companies of all shapes and sizes would do well to emulate Apple as best they can.

Joseph Martin

Macs Can Be Hacked With Synthetic Dismissal On Warning Boxes

August 25, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Depending on the lens you view him through, Patrick Wardle (former hacker for the NSA and macOS security expert) is either your best friend or your worst nightmare.

Most people (whether fans of Apple or not) will readily concede that the company works hard to make their products as secure as possible. Unfortunately, at this year’s Def Con hacker convention in Las Vegas, Wardle made a presentation that is currently sending shockwaves through the Apple user community. He exposed a major security flaw in the company’s products that impacts many of their secondary defensive measures.

Normally, when an Apple device detects an action that is potentially malicious, Apple’s OS will block it, then display an alert box to let the user know.

Unfortunately, as Wardle demonstrated, it is a trivial task for a hacker to generate a “synthetic click” to dismiss the warning box. This could be done in the blink of an eye, or with only slightly more effort, and be made utterly invisible to the end-user.

As Wardle puts it, “The ability to synthetically interact with a myriad of security prompts allows you to perform a lot of malicious actions. Many of Apple’s privacy and security-in-depth protections can be trivially bypassed.”

This is hardly a new trick. Over the years, several malware strains have used synthetic clicks to dismiss warning boxes, so Apple is certainly no stranger to the strategy. In response, they have given their OS some ability to detect and ignore synthetic clicks, but as Wardle demonstrated, it’s far from perfect and even a fully updated High Sierra system was not completely protected.

Wardle concluded his presentation with the following: “I wasn’t trying to find a bypass, but I uncovered a way to fully break a foundational security mechanism. If a security mechanism falls over so easily, did they not test this? I’m almost embarrassed to talk about it.”

Apple has not yet responded to Wardle’s presentation.

Used with permission from Article Aggregator

Joseph Martin

New Scam Targets Apple Users

August 11, 2018 by Joseph Martin

There’s a new, surprisingly elaborate phishing scam targeting iPhone users. The scam starts with an email informing users that their phones have been locked due to “illegal activity” and instructing them to call “Apple Care” to get the problem fixed.

Of course, there is no such company as Apple Care, but it’s an official enough sounding name that it’s luring a surprising percentage of victims into calling. In fact, opening the email will open a call dialog box, making connecting to “help” a very simple, and incredibly tempting option.

Naturally, the person on the other end of the phone isn’t tech support, but a hacker who’s looking to obtain as much information about the caller as possible. It’s a well thought out, well-engineered scam and it’s taking a lot of people in.

Given that smartphones have officially overtaken PCs as the primary means of surfing the web, it should come as no great surprise that phishing attacks targeting smartphone users are on the rise. Since most people keep their whole lives on their phones these days, it’s no wonder that so many people are quick to try and get help at the first sign of trouble with their cherished device.

Hackers are all too aware of that fact and are increasingly using it to prey on unsuspecting victims. Unfortunately, people tend to be more distracted when they’re on their phones versus when they’re using a PC, which explains why phishing attacks directed at smartphone users tend to succeed more often than they do against PC users.

Don’t fall for it.

Train your brain to be more mindful of any email you get that hints at a problem with any account or device you control. The best thing you can do if you get an email like that would be to close it and test the account or device yourself to verify that it’s locked. If it isn’t, delete the email and assume it was a scam. If it is locked, reach out to the company directly, rather than clicking links embedded in an email, or calling numbers obtained from an email.

That’s still not a fool proof solution, but it will help to minimize your risks.

Joseph Martin

Automatic Mobile Picture Sync Coming To Windows 10

August 9, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Microsoft has made numerous ventures into the smartphone ecosystem, but so far, they’ve only been met with limited success. This time, they’re trying something a little different.

Instead of making their own Windows-based phones, they’ve created a “Your Phone” app that syncs your phone with your PC. The app is still in testing and is slated to be released sometime in October.

At present, while there are two versions (Android and iOS), the Android version is currently more limited than the iOS version. The Android version works like this: If you take a picture with your Android smartphone, it will sync automatically to your PC, allowing you to access or edit the image in something close to real time.

With the iOS version, you can surf the web on your phone, send the web page to your phone and pick up surfing where you left off. That’s much handier, because among other things, it allows you to start watching a streaming video on your phone, then switch to a bigger screen for a better viewing experience.

In addition to the development of this new app, Microsoft is taking steps to try and bolster the popularity of its Edge browser. Coming soon will be a biometric sign-in for Edge, which gives users a password-free method of signing into websites in hopes of keeping at least some percentage of users from switching their default browsers to Chrome, Firefox, or some other option.

At present, the changes are interesting, but not compelling. We expect that Microsoft will continue heavily investing in integration, however, in a bid to increase its presence in the market. Whether their latest efforts will bear fruit remains to be seen, but from what we’ve seen so far, the early versions of the Your Phone app show promise. Kudos to Microsoft, and here’s hoping these first steps lead to even greater integration and an improvement to the overall experience down the road.

Joseph Martin

Bluetooth Vulnerability Allows Hackers To Access Devices

August 1, 2018 by Joseph Martin

There’s a new Bluetooth security vulnerability to be aware of, tracked as CVE-2018-5383, and it’s a nasty one.

It’s a cryptographic vulnerability that affects firmware or operating system software drivers from a number of major vendors, including Qualcomm, Broadcom, Intel and Apple. At this point, the implication of the bug on Linux, Android, and Google are unknown.

The flaw is related to two important Bluetooth features: BR/EDR implementations of Secure Simple Pairing in device firmware and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) of Secure Connections Pairing in OS system software.

It was discovered by researchers operating out of Israel’s Institute of Technology. They discovered that the Bluetooth specification recommends (but critically does not mandate) that devices supporting the two features make any effort to validate the public encryption key received during secure pairing.

Since the specification is optional, it’s hardly a surprise that some vendors producing Bluetooth products do not take sufficient steps to validate the parameters used to generate public keys during the exchange.

This allows a would-be hacker the possibility of executing a man-in-the-middle attack to obtain the cryptographic key used by the device. This would give them the opportunity to not only spy on the device’s owner, but also to inject malware that could allow the hacker to take full control over the device.

SIG (the Bluetooth Special Interest Group which maintains the technology), had this to say about the flaw:

“For an attack to be successful, an attacking device would need to be within wireless range of two vulnerable Bluetooth devices that were going through a pairing procedure.

The attacking device would need to intercept the public key exchange by blocking each transmission, sending an acknowledgement to the sending device, and then injecting the malicious packet to the receiving device within a narrow time window. If only one device had the vulnerability, the attack would not be successful.”

Bluetooth SIG has now updated the specification to require products to validate public keys received as part of the public key-based security procedures. Of the manufacturers mentioned above, Apple and Intel have both released patches. Broadcom has made fixes available to its OEM customers who are responsible for providing them to end-users. There has been no word yet from Qualcomm.

Joseph Martin

iOS Adds New Restricted Mode In Latest Update

July 20, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Apple recently released an updated version of iOS, 11.4.1. They did so quietly, and without much fanfare, but the update includes one very powerful and exciting security update that’s deserving of special attention.

Specifically, the new version of iOS introduces what the company is calling “Restricted Mode.”

It was created to protect iPhones against USB devices used by law enforcement to crack your password and get around the encryption used to keep your data secure.

The new feature disables USB access after the phone has been locked for an hour instead of a week, which was the previously used convention.

To access the new, more secure mode, open your Settings app and look under the section labeled “Touch ID” (note: If you have an iPhone X, this will be labeled “Face ID.”) Here, you’ll find a new toggle switch for USB Accessories.

The default mode is to disable USB Accessories, so if you want them enabled, you’ll need to go into this section of Settings to manually turn it on.

This new feature, combined with the toggle switch that automatically erases all data on the phone after ten failed login attempts should serve as a powerful one-two punch that will make iPhones dramatically more secure.

Law enforcement officials have not weighed in on the recent change. This new feature coupled with the recent Supreme Court ruling that requires law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant prior to attempting to pull data from a smartphone. It is probably not going to sit well. Even so, the change has already won high marks from privacy advocates around the world.

Given how little privacy there is left online, this has to be seen as a positive development, even if it complicates some law enforcement efforts. Kudos to Apple for the enhancement.

Joseph Martin

Some iOS Users Report Call Issues After Latest Update

Apple IOS12 Users’ Photos And Contacts May Be Vulnerable

An Exploited Website Can Cause Apple Products To Crash

Amazon Joins Trillion Dollar Club

Some Apple iPhone 8’s May Have A Manufacturer Defect

Macs Can Be Hacked With Synthetic Dismissal On Warning Boxes

New Scam Targets Apple Users

Automatic Mobile Picture Sync Coming To Windows 10

Bluetooth Vulnerability Allows Hackers To Access Devices

iOS Adds New Restricted Mode In Latest Update

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