This week, a return to form — at least in terms of format. We’ve got follow-ups on stories from previous weeks for you, but we’re also hitting some big stories in security news this week. That includes another major event concerning Apple security and the ongoing tension over its bug bounty programs (or lack thereof), while smart home device maker Nest tries to smooth things over and assure users that yes, everything is absolutely fine! Those stories and in-depth discussions about them feature on today’s Checklist, which includes:

A Keychain Security …

Jan 24, 2019

It’s the end of the world as we know it — or at least, for one Californian family, that’s what it seemed like for about thirty minutes or so. Meanwhile, the police are leaking data all over the place online, but hey, at least Apple has a new raft of updates for all your favorite products to download and install. Those stories, and our thoughts on them, make up this week’s list. We’re going down the following items:

Unrest in the NestTeaching Police Departments About SafetyAll Your Apple Gear …

With January slipping by quickly, are you back in the groove of all your usual life responsibilities? Are you perhaps enjoying your free time by taking advantage of all those new gadgets you got over Christmas, such as a brand-new TV? It may have some unsavory features you don’t know about lurking in the menus and settings — and speaking of settings, what better time of the year than to review some of your mobile security settings? That, plus a look at some helpful resolutions you can make now that …

It’s a new year — but some old worries have followed us into 2019, still lingering and causing some concerns. That means it’s time to shake off the last of the sleepiness still hanging around from the holidays and get back down to business. We have phishers making calls looking for info, more issues with troublesome apps that evaded Apple’s notice, and an update to the unfolding story about how Marriott Hotels suffered one of the biggest recent data breaches. So that means that on our list for today, we’re …

The holidays are here — and so is the entire Checklist crew! On this week’s special holiday edition of the show, we’re veering into something new and fun. Rather than bringing you depressing stories about data breaches or the headlines about whatever Facebook’s latest follies may be, we’re sinking into the sofa with mugs of hot chocolate (and mini marshmallows, of course) for a holiday movie marathon. We aren’t flipping on the Hallmark channel, though, because on our list for this week, we’re going to tick off these stories:

An 11-year-old …

With the New Year starting to peek over the horizon, The Checklist is heading to Oz in this week’s discussion — not in terms of “The Wizard of,” though, but “Australia!” There’s a story from Australia this week that has us quite cross, though we also have something to be happy about as Apple starts giving Safari users even more options for safety. We’ll follow that with an update on a story we brought you last week that, while not objectively good, still gives us some good feelings — sometimes …

As we get back into the groove of things in between the major holidays, the security hits keep on coming as it starts to look like there are more than just a few weeds in the “walled garden” that is the iOS App Store. Elsewhere, things aren’t always as they seem either as one of the most fundamental ways we know we’re safe on the web turns out to not be so ironclad. And of course, what would an episode of The Checklist be without a discussion about the latest …

Welcome in to our post-Thanksgiving episode of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

Holiday weeks are typically where news goes to die — everyone shovels out the stories they don’t really want to talk about in the hopes that no one will notice, being instead too distracted by football and stuffing. Does it always work? Nope. Not when you’ve got people like us with their eyes peeled for the stories worth discussing. This week, we’re bringing you a few stories that those involved might have preferred to keep …

Welcome in to another episode of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac. We’re diving right into the headlines again today, looking first at a new improvement to Mac security, plus a couple of the more interesting stories floating around in the world of computer security this week. So, on our list for this week, we’ve got the following stories:

New Macs get physical with their mics
What’s the Internet for again?
Making laws to handle mishandled data

Let’s kick off today’s discussion with a look at an interesting new security feature …

Last week, we brought you a discussion about some of the latest security and privacy features in Apple’s latest major release, macOS Mojave. Not everything is as it should be, though. Sure, Mojave is just fine for the average user – that’s the determination we made last week – but there are a few problems that have appeared in the days and weeks since its public release. This week, we’re talking about those issues and what’s up with them. On our list:

Full Disk Access Gives Up a Little Too …

Say goodbye to High Sierra, and hello to Mojave! On September 24, Apple released the latest version of its core operating system, macOS, bringing with it not only many security improvements but also some new additions for online and offline privacy, as well. For those who tuned in to our in-depth look at the latest features in iOS 12, some of these will sound familiar due to the way Apple has harmonized its digital ecosystem. Other features are new and exciting — but not entirely free from problems. Within …

This week on The Checklist, we’re going on vacation! No, wait — it’s a business trip. Maybe… the house is being fumigated! Whatever the reason is, we have to check into a hotel, leaving our home network behind. Good news, though: the hotel has free Wi-Fi for us to use! The bad news: we weren’t the ones to set up the security for the hotel’s wireless network. We don’t know who’s staying in the room next door, or what they might be up to… and then to top it …

This week, we’re looking at a slew of security issues, from a good old-fashioned data breach, to Apple’s latest way to make sure that the person using your device is really you! Those stories, plus a look at California’s attempts to rein in problems with the Internet of Things, will give us a glimpse into what’s going on in the world of security recently. On our checklist for today’s discussion:

Security concerns break for Newegg
California considers laws for Internet of Things things
Using phone call data to protect your iPhone

If …

This week, we’re taking a bit of a different approach to our show. Instead of presenting you with a list of topics and running down several separate stories, this week we’re focusing in on one major story that’s developed over the last week or two: breaches within Apple’s walled garden, the App Store. If you’ve heard disturbing stories about apps stealing your data and sending it off to China, or rumors about a major tech company (Trend Micro) fumbling the ball and mishandling user data, chances are good you’ve …