Security News
Apple's global security director has been charged with bribery for allegedly offering hundreds of iPads to Californian law enforcement officers in exchange for weapons permits for company employees. Chief Security Officer Thomas Moyer promised to give the Santa Clara County sheriff's office 200 iPads, worth about $70,000, in exchange for concealed weapons permits, the county's district attorney alleged in a statement Monday.
Apple's head of global security tried to bung cops hundreds of free iPads in exchange for special gun permits, it is claimed. Thomas Moyer, 50, was last week charged [PDF] with bribing senior officers in Santa Clara county, home to Apple's Cupertino headquarters.
Apple confirmed Thursday it would press ahead with mobile software changes that limit tracking for targeted advertising - a move that has prompted complaints from Facebook and others. The iPhone maker said it was moving ahead with updates to its mobile operating system to give users more information and control on tracking by apps on Apple devices.
Security expert Phil Vachon explained what happened on his blog Security Embedded, writing that an Online Certificate Status Protocol responder checking certificates of each and every application was to blame after an Apple server went down. "In the aftermath of the OCSP responder outage, and the dust settling on the macOS Big Sur release, there are a lot of folks reasonably asking if they can trust Apple to be in the loop of deciding what apps should or should not run on their Macs. My argument is-who better than Apple?".
Apple is facing the heat for a new feature in macOS Big Sur that allows many of its own apps to bypass firewalls and VPNs, thereby potentially allowing malware to exploit the same shortcoming to access sensitive data stored on users' systems and transmit them to remote servers. "Some Apple apps bypass some network extensions and VPN Apps," Maxwell tweeted.
Google is currently working on fixing a known issue causing a Google Chrome web browser version launched earlier today for Apple processors to suddenly crash. "Earlier today we updated our Chrome download page to include a new version of Chrome optimized for new macOS devices featuring an Apple processor," Chrome Support Manager Craig Tumblison said.
Google is currently working on fixing a known issue causing a Google Chrome web browser version launched earlier today for Apple processors to suddenly crash. "Earlier today we updated our Chrome download page to include a new version of Chrome optimized for new macOS devices featuring an Apple processor," Chrome Support Manager Craig Tumblison said.
Security researchers are blasting Apple for a feature in the latest Big Sur release of macOS that allows some Apple apps to bypass content filters and VPNs. They say it is a liability that can be exploited by threat actors to bypass firewalls and give them access to people's systems and expose their sensitive data. Despite concerns and questions among security professionals, Apple released Big Sur to the public on Nov. 12.
Now Apple has stressed that this app security check does not send anyone's Apple IDs nor device identifiers over the 'net, though it did log people's public IP addresses. "To further protect privacy, we have stopped logging IP addresses associated with Developer ID certificate checks, and we will ensure that any collected IP addresses are removed from logs," Apple said.
An Austrian online privacy NGO said on Monday it was lodging complaints against Apple in two countries over the use of a code on its phones that allows tracking of user behavior. The NOYB group said it was filing complaints with data protection authorities in Germany and Spain over Apple's use of a so-called IDFA which NOYB says are used on phones "Without user's knowledge or consent".