Apple Retains Notes Synced to iCloud after Deletion

Apple may be retaining deleted notes in iCloud without user knowledge or consent, according to a recent blog post from security software company Elcomsoft. If you use the Notes app on your Apple device and sync the notes to iCloud, there’s a chance that Apple is holding onto the notes indefinitely—even after you delete them.

Apple has a history of holding onto iCloud data past its deletion date. In the past, Elcomsoft has been instrumental in discovering these iCloud flaws. Last year, the company found that the iCloud Photo …

Apple Reveals That Government Security Requests Are Becoming More Common

The government is getting more comfortable asking tech companies to hand over user data. At least, that’s the conclusion that you might draw after reading Apple’s recent “Report on Government and Private Party Requests for Customer Information” from the second half of 2016.

According to the report, Apple received about twice as many United States Government National Security Requests between July 1 and December 31, 2016, as it did from January 1 to June 30. In the first half of the year, Apple received 2,999 national security requests …

Siri Voice Command Bug Could Let Thieves Hide from Find My iPhone

The theft of smartphones is a large problem, especially with high-value items like iPhones. Whether a thief takes a phone to use or to resell, they’ll need to wipe the device first. Normally, the iPhone passcode and access control restrictions prevent that from happening. Meanwhile, a user can activate Find My iPhone to uncover its location or remotely wipe a device—a useful anti-theft mechanism, as it renders the phone useless to a thief intent on stealing your private information.

However, a freshly discovered bug in iOS versions 10.1 …

Uber Breaks Apple Rules by Fingerprinting iPhones After Deletion

Our phones today are home to dozens of apps providing both entertainment and utility. Each of these apps requests permissions from the system to access certain types of data. Apple makes it easy to see what apps use which permissions through the settings page on all iOS devices. However, how can you be sure that apps are playing by the rules?

According to a recent report by the New York Times, Uber recently landed itself in more hot water when Apple uncovered efforts to circumvent the App Store’s Terms …

Apple Releases iOS Update to Patch Wi-Fi Vulnerability

At the end of March, Apple released iOS 10.3 for users of the iPhone, iPad, and iPad Touch. The update was sizable, bringing multiple new features to iOS devices. However, just a week after iOS 10.3 arrived, Apple pushed out iOS 10.3.1. The latest update fixed a major Wi-Fi vulnerability that was apparently included in the original 10.3 update.

While the next big version update for the iOS platform—iOS 11—won’t arrive until the end of the summer or the beginning of the fall, iOS 10.3 was still seen as …

Competing Hackers Discover Method for Hijacking the Touch Bar

When Apple revealed its long-awaited refresh of the MacBook line last year, the Touch Bar was touted as a major selling point. By incorporating the same sensor technology already present in the iPhone, Apple said that a wide variety of new applications were available. From rapid online purchasing to using your fingerprint to unlock your Mac, it attracted plenty of attention. Apple even discussed its efforts to secure the Touch Bar, since protecting user biometric information and payment data is of obvious importance.

However, a recent hack of …

Apple Reassures Users: Flaws in WikiLeaks/CIA Vault7 Leak Already Patched

On March 7th, WikiLeaks entered the news and made waves again by releasing almost nine thousand documents they claimed came from within the US Central Intelligence Agency. Contained in the leak was a vast range of information about the CIA’s intelligence gathering practices regarding technology. The revelations included information that the agency had undertaken spying efforts through exploiting vulnerabilities in various technologies, including some “smart” TVs and mobile operating systems. Also, contained within the documents, however, were fourteen previously undisclosed flaws in iOS. Through these flaws, an attacker could …

Safari Syncing Bug Left User Browsing Histories Accessible Through iCloud

Regularly clearing the history of sites one has visited in a browser is a common habit for many users. It reduces digital clutter while also providing you with a degree of control over your privacy on the web. When you’ve cleared your history, no one can access your device and instantly see where you’ve been online. That’s the idea, at least; unfortunately, an issue within iCloud meant that user histories lingered in the cloud, sometimes including data over a year old. Though wiped from the devices, a well-informed individual …

Emoji Issue Create Crashes in Older iOS Versions

As a cultural phenomenon, emojis seem to be the natural evolution from more “old school” style emoticons. No longer just a small set of pictograms, emojis now compromise several hundred tiny digital images. Users pepper their text messages with them and fill up social media posts with emojis. The iPhone, like many other smartphones, includes its own built-in library of standard emojis. However, a recently uncovered flaw in the way some versions of iOS render a particular emoji can cause instability and inaccessibility for some iPads and iPhones.

What …

Apple Postpones Mandatory Move to App Transport Security

In a recent article, we covered Apple’s App Transport Security (ATS) feature and the security benefits its implementation brings to users. Apple had set a deadline of January 1, 2017, by which all apps offered through the App Store needed to be ATS-compliant. We noted that the majority of apps — even very popular ones —were currently non-compliant, as well as discussing some developer concerns about the difficulty involved in meeting the deadline.

In a terse statement posted on the Apple Developers website just before the new year, the …

Battery Bug in Latest iOS Versions Cause Phones to Power Down at 30%

While Apple is busy contending with iPhone 6S battery degradation and offering replacements to some of their owners; users of the most recent iOS updates on iPhone 6 and 5s models are dealing with battery issues of their own. While there have been some issues with updates affecting battery life in the past, the current bug can disrupt daily functionality. The problem began with iOS 10.1.1 and continues to persist into the recently-released version 10.2.

What does the bug resemble, and what are the issues surrounding it? While using …

Research Reveals Apple’s Efforts to Safeguard User Biometrics in the...

Today, individuals generate a staggering amount of personal data on an annual basis. It’s not just your files and documents, though — it’s everything you leave behind in your digital wake. That includes things such as browsing history, purchasing habits, tracking cookies, and even passwords. Managing the security of that data and protecting it isn’t always easy. As we begin to use physical data about our bodies, like fingerprints, to interact with our devices, that security becomes even more important. With Apple’s introduction of the Touch Bar in the …

Apple Delays Enforcement of Secure In-App Web Connections in 2017

Update: In response to developer concerns about meeting the ATS deadline, Apple has extended the timeframe for compliance. Click here to read more on the latest developments in this process.

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Apps on iOS devices were about to become a lot more secure overall in the approaching new year, but Apple has pushed back its deadline in a late announcement. What’s this about, you might ask? Well, it all has to do with groundwork laid several years ago, way back in iOS 9. In that update, Apple took the …

iPhone Users Beware: New SMS Flaw Can Crash Messages app on all iOS Versions

An issue relating to text message attachments is currently causing severe issues for iPhones across all iOS 10 versions, as well as previous releases. Unlike the infamous 2015 Unicode exploit, in which the body of a message caused a system crash, this new problem creates severe instability in the iPhone’s Messages app. After an initial crash, created by opening a malicious attachment, Messages is unable to recover and restart, even after a hard reboot of the iPhone.

At the root of the flaw is an extremely large phone contacts …

Apple Moves to Enforce Secure In-App Web Connections in 2017

Apps on iOS devices are about to become a lot more secure overall in the approaching new year, and it all has to do with the groundwork laid by Apple several years ago. Way back in iOS 9, Apple took the step of requiring a secure HTTP connection from apps requesting pages via the Internet. Known as App Transport Security, or ATS, this feature prevents apps from creating insecure connections to the web. These types of connections, as we know, pose a potentially severe security threat and increase the …

Apple Corrects Slew of Security Issues with New Updates

Following a month-long gap after the release of iOS 10.1.1, Apple has finally released its latest round of updates not just for its iOS devices but several other products as well. In addition to iOS 10.2, macOS Sierra received many security updates, as did Safari. iCloud and iTunes for Windows also received minor patches as well. While Apple took the time to add some additional features and tweaks to iOS in its update, these patches were mainly aimed at closing many ongoing system vulnerabilities.

Among the most crucial fixes …

Security Researchers Uncover Massive WordPress Vulnerability

Since the entrance of the word “blog” into our vocabularies in the mid-2000s, the idea of what blogging encompasses has undergone a significant amount of change. What hasn’t changed, however, is a lot of the underlying architecture that powers those blogs. WordPress is among the most popular platforms for creating websites on the Internet. By one estimate, WordPress software is the engine behind nearly 30% of all websites. These aren’t just blogs as such; many other sites run on some variation of the core WordPress software.

Considering the staggering …

Siri Exploit Creates an Avenue for Hackers to Bypass Your Passcodes

Preventing unauthorized access to your iPhone is important; that’s why so many of us lock our phones with secure passcodes and even our fingerprints. These basic features mean that no passerby can pick up your phone and start going through your personal information. However, it’s important for users concerned with privacy and security to keep a close eye on their devices. In some cases, information stored on your phone can still be vulnerable even with a passcode lock. For example, if you have Siri enabled, there is a potential …

Dual-Booters Beware: Boot Camp Could Damage the Speakers on your new MacBook

For those who need versatile options when it comes to operating systems, Boot Camp is one of the best tools to have at your disposal. With how easy it makes dual-booting both Windows and macOS on your Mac, many people rely on it when they require access to a Microsoft environment for work or development purposes.

However, it seems that the recent refresh of the MacBook Pro line has brought with it some unexpected problems affecting the laptop’s speakers. Users began to report that when dual-booting into Windows, they …

Apple Issues iOS 10.1 to Patch a Critical Web Content Vulnerability

In its newest push to make its iOS products safer, Apple has released iOS update 10.1, featuring an array of twelve different patches for various parts of the system. While details on many of these patches are scant at best, we do know one of the major vulnerabilities patched in this update. Apple took extra steps to close a loophole that could allow what it terms “maliciously crafted web content” to exploit and hijack iOS devices. What exactly does that mean? Put simply; there was a risk that viewing an …