Feedback & Followups
- 🇮🇪 COVID Exposure Notification Apps Continue to Roll Out: Ireland launches COVID-19 app using Apple and Google’s technology — www.imore.com/…
- Aside: I’m really impressed with how the Irish health authorities explain the privacy protections offered by the Irish app, many of which are relevant to every app based on Google & Apple’s API: Privacy and how we use your data — covidtracker.gov.ie/…
- Related: Ireland’s app rollout was very successful, reaching 25% of the country’s adult population is just a few days, and out-performing other successful launches like the one in Germany — www.thejournal.ie/…
- As expected, the rest of the industry has followed the lead Apple set earlier this year, and from September, the maximum acceptable life-time for HTTPS certs will be 1 year — www.zdnet.com/…
- Moves to address the dangers posed by facial recognition continue:
- The fallout from the iOS 14 Beta adding clipboard access notifications continues:
- 🇺🇸 The Senate Judiciary Committee has passed a slightly tweaked version of the controversial EARN IT act, the bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
- Social media’s evolution continues:
- Facebook auditor issues damning report on response to Trump posts and fact-checking — www.imore.com/…
- Facebook announces changes to News Feed rankings, prioritizing original reporting and transparency — www.imore.com/…
- Facebook and Instagram are now reminding everyone to wear a face mask — www.imore.com/…
- Google to auto-delete user history after 18 months — www.intego.com/…
❗ Action Alerts
- Microsoft have released two emergency patches for Windows 10 & Windows Server 2019, but you get them through the Windows Store, not the standard Microsoft Update system. For home users the process should be automatic, but well-meaning AD Group Policies could block the updates in the corporate world — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
- A remote code execution vulnerability has been found in many Netgear routers. Netgear have issued firmware releases for many of the affected models, so patch if you can, and get a new router if you can’t — www.kb.cert.org/…
- The long list of affected devices — kb.netgear.com/…
Worthy Warnings
- Beware “secure DNS” scam targeting website owners and bloggers — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
- 133m records for sale as fruits of data breach spree keep raining down — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
- Related Editorial by Bart: If you don’t use a password manager that integrates with a service like Have I Been Pwned (e.g. 1Password & LastPass), now might be a good time to pro-actively check your email addresses at haveibeenpwned.com.
- Intego are reporting a new Mac Trojan, EvilQuest, spreading via pirated software — It’s a timely reminder not don’t download software from untrusted sources, and definitely don’t steal software, it deprives coders of the ability to put food in their tables! — www.intego.com/…
Notable News
- 🧯 A bug has been found in macOS Mojave & later that allows malicious apps to bypass some of the OS’s privacy-protecting popups. This is obviously not good, but it’s not a catastrophic vulnerability since it just returns things to how they were before Mojave:
- Intel have released the first details of the up-coming Thunderbolt 4 standard, including a requirement that devices implement DMA (Direct Memory Access) protections in order to get certified — www.imore.com/…
- 🇺🇸 Court Rules Facebook Widgets Can Be Considered Wiretaps — gizmodo.com/…
- 🇺🇸 Supreme Court Supports Federal Ban on Robocalls — www.macobserver.com/…
Top Tips
- How to embed YouTube videos in your site without the tracker that usually accompanies them — dri.es/…
- How to set up 2-step verification for Google and Gmail on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac — www.imore.com/…
- How to set up two-factor authentication for your Amazon account — www.imore.com/…
Interesting Insights
- A nice overview and review of the AV options for Mac users: Best Antivirus Software for Mac in 2020 — www.imore.com/…
Just Because it’s Cool 😎
Palate Cleansers
- Never ruin your cloths accidentally again with this great app for recognising and explaining the cryptic symbols on cloths labels: Laundry Lens — apps.apple.com/…
- 🎦 A fascinating hour-long conversation with Sir Tim Berners Lee (inventor of the WWW), Vint Cerf (one of the inventors of TCP/IP), and Al Gore (a politician responsible rolling out internet access in the US) hosted by tech journalist David Pogue — www.youtube-nocookie.com/… (from Allison, and heartily endorsed by Bart)
Legend
When the textual description of a link is part of the link it is the title of the page being linked to, when the text describing a link is not part of the link it is a description written by Bart.
| Emoji | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 🎧 | A link to audio content, probably a podcast. |
| ❗ | A call to action. |
| flag | The story is particularly relevant to people living in a specific country, or, the organisation the story is about is affiliated with the government of a specific country. |
| 📊 | A link to graphical content, probably a chart, graph, or diagram. |
| 🧯 | A story that has been over-hyped in the media, or, “no need to light your hair on fire” 🙂 |
| 💵 | A link to an article behind a paywall. |
| 📌 | A pinned story, i.e. one to keep an eye on that’s likely to develop into something significant in the future. |
| 🎩 | A tip of the hat to thank a member of the community for bringing the story to our attention. |