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 …

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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …

The 2018 parade of big tech and security headlines continues, and in recent episodes, we’ve touched on some pretty big developments. From Cambridge Analytica and Facebook scandals to the rollout of the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe, we’ve covered some major issues so far this year. In between all those banner headlines, though, there have been plenty of other important stories that haven’t been quite so big as to merit getting a show all their own. Today, we’re reaching into the grab bag for our third edition of …

Imagine if whenever you went to buy something — a car, perhaps — the information you handed over in the purchasing process became public record for anyone to see and search. All they’d have to do is plug your license plate in, and they’d be able to see your name, address, and phone number.

How do you unlock your iPhone when you need to use it? Apple gives us a ton of options when it comes to keeping our information safe from prying eyes and unwanted intruders, from PINs to our fingerprints and our faces. Apple’s commitment to empowering users to take control of their privacy and security, though, has sometimes been the source of very public friction between the tech giant and law enforcement agencies such as the FBI. When Apple won’t help by providing a backdoor into user data, what option …

Welcome to Episode 87. Last week, we took an in-depth look at data breaches: from how they happen to a few of the biggest ones, and of course, what you can do to protect yourself when a big company loses your data, we covered a lot of ground in that show. We’ve got further to go still, though!  This week we’re continuing with our look into data breaches by turning our attention to the business side of things. These breaches don’t happen randomly, and how a company responds to …

During the course of your day, buy things, like gas, food, & lodging. Do you pay cash for all those things — or do you try to go back in time and operate on the barter system? Even if you do most of your business in day to day life with cash, chances are there are still at least some occasions when you pull out a card. For many more of us, debit and credit cards are an essential and irreplaceable part of daily life. Some restaurants, for example, …

When you log on to Facebook, do you still feel like you’re having fun? The social network used to be an awesome place to reconnect with old friends and keep in touch with family. Today, more people than ever are choosing #DeleteFacebook.

While Facebook is a free service in theory, since no one pays to sign up for an account, it turns out the real costs are much higher than any subscription fee. From the Cambridge Analytica story we reported on recently to even more unwelcome news about privacy …

Machine learning. Deep learning. Neural networks. Artificial intelligence… it’s starting to feel like we’re in an Isaac Asimov novel! For this week’s episode of The Checklist, we’re diving in to the latest ways computers and technology are being trained to complete complex tasks, make inferences, and do more overall. From Google training computers to identify specific objects in images to the way anti-malware software figures out how to detect and stop new variants, there are plenty of cool applications for this innovative technology. However, there are some pretty creepy things …