Apple update | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

A severe programming error has been discovered in Apple's latest macOS High Sierra 10.13 that exposes passwords of encrypted Apple File System (APFS) volumes in plain text. Reported by Matheus Mariano, a Brazilian software developer, the vulnerability affects encrypted volumes using APFS wherein the password hint section is showing the actual password in the plain text. Yes, you got that right—your Mac mistakenly reveals the actual password instead of the password hint. In September, Apple released macOS High Sierra 10.13 with APFS (Apple File System) as the default file system for solid-state drives (SSDs) and other all-flash storage devices, promising strong encryption and better performance. Mariano discovered the security issue while he was using the Disk Utility in macOS High Sierra to add a new encrypted APFS volume to a container. When adding a new volume, he was asked to set a password and, optionally, write a hint for it. So, whenever the new volume is mounted, m...

What's worse than knowing that innocent looking JPEGs, PDFs and font files can hijack your iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Yes, attackers can take over your vulnerable Apple's iOS device remotely – all they have to do is trick you to view a maliciously-crafted JPEG graphic or PDF file through a website or an email, which could allow them to execute malicious code on your system. That's a terrible flaw (CVE-2016-4673), but the good news is that Apple has released the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 10.1 , for iPhones and iPads to address this remote-code execution flaw, alongside an array of bug fixes. And now that the company has rolled out a security patch, some hackers would surely find vulnerable Apple devices to exploit the vulnerability and take full control of them. So, users running older versions of iOS are advised to update their mobile devices to iOS 10.1 as soon as possible. Besides this remote code execution flaw, the newest iOS 10.1 incl...

Vulnerability Management (VM) has long been a cornerstone of organizational cybersecurity. Nearly as old as the discipline of cybersecurity itself, it aims to help organizations identify and address potential security issues before they become serious problems. Yet, in recent years, the limitations of this approach have become increasingly evident.  At its core, Vulnerability Management processes remain essential for identifying and addressing weaknesses. But as time marches on and attack avenues evolve, this approach is beginning to show its age. In a recent report, How to Grow Vulnerability Management into Exposure Management (Gartner, How to Grow Vulnerability Management Into Exposure Management, 8 November 2024, Mitchell Schneider Et Al.), we believe Gartner® addresses this point precisely and demonstrates how organizations can – and must – shift from a vulnerability-centric strategy to a broader Exposure Management (EM) framework. We feel it's more than a worthwhile read an...

Are you experiencing slow Internet speed on your MacBook today? — It's not just you! Here's Why: Following in Microsoft's footsteps , Apple has started " pre-downloading " the latest version of its desktop operating system, macOS 10.12 Sierra, in the background, if you are still running OS X El Capitan. If you have automatic downloads enabled on your Mac, a large file of around 5GB will mysteriously be downloaded to your computer in the background, using your Internet bandwidth for unrequested files. Apple justifies this move by saying that the automatic download would make it easier for users to get the newest operating system, encouraging them to update their Macs. The good news, however, is that the update will not install automatically without your permission. Once downloaded automatically in the background, users who are running OS X El Capitan version 10.11.5 or later will receive a notification that says macOS Sierra is ready to be installed....

Sad but True! Your Apple's Mac computer is vulnerable to a serious privilege escalation flaw, dubbed "RootPipe," even if you are running the latest version of Mac OS X. What's RootPipe? Back in October 2014, a Swedish White Hat hacker Emil Kvarnhammar claimed to have discovered a critical privilege escalation vulnerability, he dubbed the backdoor as " RootPipe ," in some versions of Mac OS X including the then newest version 10.10 Yosemite. The vulnerability ( CVE-2015-1130 ) could allow an attacker to take full control of your desktop Mac computer or MacBook laptop, even without any authentication. Keeping in mind the devastating effect of the RootPipe vulnerability, the researcher privately reported the flaw to Apple and did not disclose the details of the flaw publicly until the company released a patch to fix it. Apple did release an update but failed to patch RootPipe: Earlier this month, Apple released the latest version of Mac OS...

Apple has rolled out iOS 8.1.3 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices, after weeks of extensive testing. The iOS 8.1.3 update contains bug fixes, stability enhancements and performance improvements. Among the new features, it reduces the amount of storage space required to perform a software update. The update can be downloaded by going to Settings > General > Software Update . The download size of iOS 8.1.3 is 246MB . Apple users with 8GB and 16GB devices will definitely appreciate the reduced storage requirements for updating to iOS 8. In addition to bug fixes, iOS 8.1.3 also includes a number of security improvements which can be viewed in detail on Apple's security page for the update. Apple is also preparing to release OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 beta update , which contains a patch for the Thunderstrike vulnerability that allows malware to be injected into Macs via the Thunderbolt port.

Apple is preparing to release the second update to OS X Yosemite in the coming days to its customers. The upcoming beta update OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 contains a patch for the Thunderstrike vulnerability that allows malware to be injected into Macs via the Thunderbolt port. Earlier this month, Reverse engineer Trammell Hudson revealed technical details and proof-of-concept of Thunderstrike attack . Thunderstrike, an undetectable bootkit, works by injecting an Option ROM into a Mac's EFI. It is possible because hardware attached to a system through Thunderbolt port are not as secure as a Mac itself. Once installed using Thunderstrike attack, the malware would be almost impossible to detect and remove. Because the firmware used on Macs doesn't always apply to the security of attached hardware. So "Apple had to change the code to not only prevent the Mac's boot ROM from being replaced, but also to prevent it from being rolled back to a state where the at...

So, is your Safari Web Browser Updated?? Make sure you have the latest web browser updated for your Apple Macintosh systems, as Apple released Safari 6.1.3 and Safari 7.0.3 with new security updates. These Security updates addresses multiple vulnerabilities in its Safari web browser, which has always been the standard browser for Mac users. This times not five or ten, in fact about two dozen. Apple issued a security update to patch a total of 27 vulnerabilities in Safari web browser, including the one which was highlighted at Pwn2Own 2014 hacking competition. The available updates replace the browser running OSX 10.7 and 10.8 with the latest versions of browser 6.1.3, and OSX 10.9 with 7.0.3. Among the 27 vulnerabilities, the most remarkable vulnerability addressed in the update is CVE-2014-1303 , a heap-based buffer overflow that can be remotely exploited and could lead to bypass a sandbox protection mechanism via unspecified vector. This vulnerability is ...

Yet another Apple vulnerability has been exposed by security researchers, that can be exploited to track your finger's every action on iOS Devices i.e. iPhone , iPad etc. The exploit reportedly targets a flaw in iOS multitasking capabilities to capture user inputs, according to Security researchers at  FireEye . They found a way to bypass the Apple's app review process effectively and created a proof-of-concept Monitoring app for non-jailbroken iOS 7.0.x devices. The " monitoring " app, that runs in the background of the iPhone is a Keylogger Trojan which could allow hackers to monitor user's activities on the mobile device, including - touches on the screen, home button press, volume button press and TouchID press , and send all collected events to any remote server. According to researchers, their proof-of-concept app works on versions 7.0.4, 7.0.5, 7.0.6, and 6.1.x. " Based on the findings, potential attackers can either use phishing to mislead the vi...

Apple has faced a number challenges over the last year related to software errors and flaws on its flagship iPhone. According to a latest video posted on YouTube  iPhone and iPad users running the latest iOS 6.1 platform can bypass the lock screen, even when a password is set. Basically, he found that by attempting and canceling an emergency call on the iPhone, holding the lock button and then taking a screenshot took him past the stage where he should have had to enter a password to access the phone. The flaw is relatively easy to exploit and this lets you bypass the security code and use the full Phone app. From there you have access to the address book, and the pictures app by trying to change a contacts picture. Apple promised to fix the iOS 6.1 iOS Exchange bug in a forthcoming software update so perhaps they'll fix this annoying glitch as well. Steps to follow: First part: -Go to emergency call, push down the power button and tap cancel. -D...

Apple has discontinued its own Java plugin, issuing an 'update' that removes it from MacOS and encourages users to instead download Oracle's version of the software. Its another step by Apple towards making OS X safer on the web. Mac users may have noticed that Java-based websites are displaying a " Missing Plug-in " notification. The Apple Support page states that this update is for OS X 10.7 and later. Apart from stripping browsers of the Java plug-in, it also removes the Java Preferences application, since it is no longer required for applet setting configuration. Just to be clear, the update does not remove Java from your system if its installed, just the Java plugin from your web browsers. In August, Java was blasted as an unsafe plug-in that should only be used when absolutely necessary after a zero-day exploit was discovered, rolled into the user-friendly Blackhole exploit kit and used for nearly a week before Oracle issued a patch. That patch, however,...