Apple’s March 2020 Updates

Apple has just released a raft of updates, and some of them have important security and privacy implications. In this brief article, we’ll highlight some of the key points from Cupertino’s release notes and explain their significance. Then (in a sign of the times) we’ll offer a special addendum to our update guidance.

macOS 10.15.4

Version 10.15.4 of macOS patches a number of serious vulnerabilities. Related security patches were also issued to support older versions of the operating system; these were named Security Update 2020-002 Mojave and Security Update 2020-002 High Sierra.

One …

Apple Switches Off Apple Watch Walkie-Talkies to Nix Eavesdropping Bug

In response to the discovery of a new critical bug in one of Apple’s own apps, the company has disabled some functionality in Apple Watches to protect users. 

The issue lies with the Walkie-Talkie app, a default app on the Apple Watch designed to let users connect with one of their friends directly for “push to talk” chatting. Once a staple feature on older cell phones, Apple included Walkie-Talkie as a fun addition — yet it seems to have come with a not so fun side-effect of its own. Details are …

Highlights from the 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference

On Monday morning, Apple’s 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference kicked off in San Jose. As is tradition, WWDC began with a keynote presentation from Apple highlighting long-awaited updates, important announcements, and a vision of the road ahead.

Here’s our roundup of the biggest news from the keynote, along with a few comments on what this means for Mac security as well.

macOS

As expected, macOS 10.15 is here. Named “Catalina”, the newest version of macOS features a few important changes and a bittersweet farewell.

Goodbye iTunes

Maybe the biggest news—and something that’s been a long time …