Apple Patches FaceTime Spying Vulnerability
Apple described the flaw, tracked as CVE-2019-6223, as a logic issue in the handling of Group FaceTime calls. The company says the problem has been addressed with “improved state management.” The bug allowed an attacker to spy on FaceTime users by calling the targeted user and adding the attacker’s own number to a group chat….
Apple Working on Patch to Prevent FaceTime Spying
Videos and descriptions of the vulnerability have been making the rounds on social media websites. The attack does not require any technical knowledge and it can be carried out in seconds. The attacker calls the targeted user via FaceTime and then immediately initiates a group chat by using the “Add person” button from the bottom…
Facebook Pulls Security App From Apple Store Over Privacy
The twin developments come as Facebook is under intense scrutiny over privacy following the Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year. Allegations that the political consultancy used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts have dented Facebook’s reputation. Since the scandal broke, Facebook has investigated thousands of apps and suspended more than 400 of them…
Apple releases security updates, adds new privacy protection for iOS users
Apple has released new versions of its many operating systems and software products, with fixes for a wide variety of vulnerabilities. The iOS update also comes with USB Restricted Mode, a new security feature that will protect users’ iPhones and iPads from being accessed by law enforcement with software cracking tools like GrayKey. iOS USB…
What will voice-assistant ads “look” like?
Anyone who doesn’t use, or at least hasn’t heard of, voice assistants belongs to a very exclusive club. For many, it’s easier to ask Google, Alexa, or Siri a question rather than typing in a search query. However, as with any futuristic technology, care is called for when it comes to voice helpers. We’ve already posted…
Apple puts privacy information screens in users’ line of sight
Apple has released the latest round of updates for its various products. They come with the usual security fixes, but also a new feature aimed at informing users about what information Apple-made apps collect about them and how that information is used. The security fixes Apple has plugged a bucketload of vulnerabilities in WebKit, the…
Investors concerned about smartphone addiction; Apple responds with new webpage
Hot on the heels of an open letter from investors urging Apple to do more to protect children from smartphone addiction, the tech giant has recently dedicated a page on their website to families. The “Families” page, which can be accessed at apple.com/families, contains tools parents can use to set restrictions on devices accessible to their kids, manage…
Apple Fixes Indian Character Crash Bug in iOS, macOS
Updates released by Apple on Monday for iOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS patch a flaw that causes applications to crash when rendering specific strings of Indian characters. Someone noticed recently that displaying a string written in India’s Telugu language (జ్ఞా) caused many apps on iOS and macOS to crash. The list of impacted apps includes…
Can Biometrics Solve the Authentication Problem?
When Apple introduced the Touch ID fingerprint access button, commentators believed it would kick-start the ever-promising, never-quite-delivering biometric market. But Touch ID was defeated by hackers within days. When Apple introduced the FaceID biometric, the same happened – it was defeated within weeks. In November 2017, F-Secure demonstrated that Android’s Trusted Face Smart Lock can be defeated by…
AMD, Apple Sued Over CPU Vulnerabilities
Apple and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are also facing class action lawsuits following the disclosure of critical CPU vulnerabilities that affect billions of devices. The Meltdown and Spectre attack methods, which rely on vulnerabilities that have been around for roughly two decades, allow malicious applications to bypass memory isolation mechanisms and access passwords, photos, documents, emails, and…