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The Checklist Podcast

SecureMac presents The Checklist. Each week, Ken Ray and guests hit security topics. From getting an old iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, and other Apple gear ready to sell to the first steps to take to secure new hardware, each show contains a set of easy to follow steps meant to keep you safe from identity thieves, hackers, malware, and other digital downfalls. Check in each Thursday for a new Checklist!

The Checklist Podcast by SecureMac

Checklist 113: Security Breaks and Fixes in iOS

A slightly surprising slip-up on Apple’s part, a helpful security how-to, and an update on a persistent foe — that’s what we’re diving into this week as we tour the headlines and pluck out the security stories that seem most ripe for an interesting discussion. On today’s list, we’re checking off the following stories:

A bypass in Apple’s hours-old update
Scammy subscriptions, and how to stop them
And GrayKey is getting stuck in the lock

This week, we’re starting off with a pretty unique story. When Apple releases a new update, the …

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Checklist 112: Security as an Obstacle in Mojave

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 …

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Checklist 111: macOS Mojave

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 …

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Checklist 110: Security and Privacy in iOS 12

It’s finally here! On September 17, Apple introduced iOS 12, the latest version of the operating system that makes our iPhones and iPads tick. Packed with a ton of new features, there’s more to iOS 12 than new Animojis and screen time monitoring services. Even a quick look reveals that it’s filled with all kinds of security goodies, too. In this week’s discussion, we’ve taken a deep dive into the changes to see for ourselves what Apple has done to increase mobile security and privacy. What have they implemented …

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Checklist 109: The Weakness is Wetware

Social engineering strikes again, the intersection of the digital world and constitutional law, and more — that’s the gist of the tour we’re taking around the headlines in today’s discussion. On our list for this week, we’ve got:

The Weakness is Wetware
Your Face and the Fifth Amendment
Questions About Last Week’s Wi-Fi Questions

We’re kicking off this week with a look at a story from Cult of Mac with a scary headline you might have seen recently about a vulnerability that “lets hackers steal business passwords” from Apple machines. That …

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Checklist 108: Hotel Wi-Fi How-To

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 …

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Checklist 107: Newegg, Old Issues

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 …

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Checklist 106: Breaking Down Breakdowns in the Mac App Store

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 …

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Checklist 105: Products and Byproducts

In this week’s discussion, we’re looking at some stories that strike a similar tone to several of our recent episodes. With Google figuring out how to use your spending habits to make money, spyware apps that end up being compromised, and a look at the web’s privacy-friendly search engine, we’ve got plenty to tackle today. Here’s what we’ve got on our list:

You’re still the product
Your kids are the byproduct
A look at how things are going for DuckDuckGo

Have you ever heard the saying, “If you aren’t paying for a …

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Checklist 104: Guess Again! And Again! And Again!

It might seem like we have a thousand new security issues to talk about each week — but if you’ve been listening for a while, you know that’s pretty much par for the course these days. This week we have a plethora of stories about telcos (and their partners) dropping the ball when it comes to user privacy, followed by yet another Facebook story that leaves us wondering “When is enough enough?” and wrapping up with a big problem where parental spyware proves once again that actions can have …

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Checklist 103 Always Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

Last week, we spent most of our discussion shaking our heads. This week, we’ve got an update on one of those stories, a look at a frankly quite scary USB device that doubles as malware, and a look at just how much the government doesn’t like apps that let you encrypt all your conversations. As we head into the “dog days of summer,” the security threats and the big stories keep adding up — but maybe we should be thankful we don’t have a multi-million-person data leak to discuss …

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Checklist 102: The Head Shaking Edition

This week, we’ve dubbed our episode the “head shaking edition” because each of our stories today left us shaking our heads for one reason or another. From Google quietly looking over your shoulder to Comcast fumbling the ball with yet another big leak of user data, there’s plenty to discuss — so today we’re diving right in to our discussion. Items we’ll be ticking off the list as we go:

Google’s game of hide and seek
A look at behavioral biometrics
Comcast tells 26.5 million people, “Relax!”

Do you try to stay …

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Checklist 101: Picture Imperfect

The summer marches on, and so does the parade of headlines and security concerns. From sneaky websites pretending to be someone they are not, to creepy social media spying thanks to an old and supposedly broken phone, and onward to concerns about requests for your info everywhere you go, we’re looking at a lot this week. We’ll look at those stories, discuss what you should know and what you can do (if anything), and more in today’s recap. Here are the topics we’ll be checking off on today’s list: …

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Checklist 100: It’s Episode 100!

It has been a long time coming, but we are proud to celebrate the milestone achievement of 100 episodes of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac! We’d like to take this moment to say a big “thank you” to our listeners, especially those who’ve been here from the start. With such a big milestone, it seems appropriate that one of the top stories we have on our list this week concerns another gargantuan trove of personal data— and chances are, at least some of your information will probably …

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Episode: Checklist 99: I Saw What You Did!

Checklist 99: I Saw What You Did!

It’s time for another look into the world of security news, where we’ll talk about where Apple stores your sensitive data, the latest and strangest anti-spam efforts, and more. This week we’re narrowing our focus to look at how Apple is handling some of the latest speed bumps in its efforts to grow while also trying to maintain its public commitment to customer privacy and data security. We’ve also got the latest nefarious scheme the bad guys are using to try and extort people on the web these days …

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Checklist 97: Privacy Nightmare at 30,000 Feet

In the past, we’ve spent a substantial amount of time talking about the business of security flaws. Usually, it centers around things such as selling personal data on the Dark Web after stealing it using exploits and attacks. Credit card details, names, and addresses, and more — it all makes for a booming black market of data. That’s not the only kind of information sold on the Dark Web, though: sometimes, it’s the exploits that lead to gathering user data in the first place.

On this week’s episode, …

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Checklist 96: The Latest Bugs, Flaws, and Privacy Worries

The summer keeps on heating up, so why not stay inside where it’s cool, and relax with the newest edition of The Checklist? As the temperatures outside climb, the headlines in the world of Mac security and beyond keep piling up too. This week, we’re touching on a few security hiccups in Apple products, talking about some welcome patches, and covering the latest creepy information about Facebook’s activities to splash into the news. On our agenda for today’s discussion are these topics:

Quick Look may lead to long looks
Apple code …

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Checklist 95: Summer Security News

It seems like it was just yesterday that we were kicking off the new year and wondering what the months ahead would have in store for us. As we head into the first sweltering days of summer, it’s safe to say that the first half of the year has been jam-packed with bigger and more far-reaching stories than even we could have anticipated. With so much going on, it can be tough to keep up with all the headlines coming your way. Luckily, we have your back — we’ve …

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Checklist 94: Facebook & Friends: More Privacy Concerns

Every week, we try to bring you the biggest news in the security world — or at least the most interesting developments that could affect us all. That’s why this week we’re diving into a brand-new subject we’ve never covered before… just kidding – Facebook has done it again. If it seems lately as though every week we have something new and usually concerning to discuss about the social media juggernaut, that’s because it’s the reality. Thanks to a new report in the New York Times, this week is …

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Checklist 93: What’s New in Security News

Welcome to Episode 93 of The Checklist. Today, our attention turns towards security and insecurity — but we’re not talking about a long-lost Jane Austen novel. Instead, we’re taking a tour through the headlines to hit some of the big and interesting stories that have cropped up in the security sector over the past few weeks. Things we’ll be visiting on today’s list include:

The Zipperdown vulnerability
Puppy Pictures Preempt Privacy
The returning specter of Spectre
eFail: a big bug in email encryption
What does Apple know about you?

The answer to that last question may …

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