One of the claims by loyal Apple fans is that the Apple desktop operating system is more secure than Microsoft Windows because they are affected by markedly less malware. This has more to do with the fact that virus-writers would rather spend their time creating malware for an OS that is much more widely installed and has many well-known security weaknesses and bugs to exploit, and less to do with any inherent security strengths in OS X.
Which ever side of the fence you fall on, Mac users have recently been falling prey to a new form of ransomware that is delivered via Apple’s Safari web browser. Affected users are displayed the usual threatening messages that purportedly come straight from the FBI, demonstrating “proof” that your Apple computer has been engaged in illegal activity. Users are given the opportunity to pay a “fine” which will supposedly allow them to regain control over their machine and remove the warning messages blocking their screen.
What this means for you:
If you are a Windows user, you’ve probably already seen this form of malware in action. The Apple variant is slightly less annoying than its Windows counterpart, relying heavily on “iFrames” to pop-up the warnings. Savvy Safari users can close these windows to escape the ransomware’s clutches temporarily (something that’s not possible on the Windows side), but should still reset their browser settings (FBI provides instructions here) to clear out any rogue alterations made, and then run a full anti-malware sweep to ensure they didn’t pick up anything else alongside of the ransomware scam.
As always, you should never heed instructions to pay a “fine” levied by some governmental institution via online method. Law enforcement agencies do not operate in that fashion. Regardless of the brouhaha ongoing with the NSA and the Prism surveillance, no government entity is going to handle illegal activity via automated fines, and especially not through dodgy online payment websites. Use your common sense. If you encounter this form of malware and are unable to fix it yourself, shut down your workstation and pick up the phone to call a professional.
Apple officially announced the next version of their mobile device operating system at the Worldwide Developer Conference on June 10th. The rumors of a redesigned interface proved to be true, as iOS 7 showed off a completely reskinned interface that features a more muted color scheme with “flattened” elements, a marked departure from the infamous “lickable” buttons and widgets of previous iterations. The new look was also backed by many updates to interface mechanics, expanded multitasking, redesigns of some of the built-in apps, and the launch of Apple’s own streaming music service, a direct competitor of similar services like Spotify, Pandora, and Google’s Music All Access.
What this means for you:
If you have an iPhone 4 or iPad 2 or newer, then the OS update will be automatically pushed out to you when it is released this Fall. Aside from the new look, iPhone users will enjoy the new “control center” function – a slide-up widget that allows you to access commonly used iPhone settings like toggles for Wifi, Bluetooth, Airplane Mode. The expanded multi-tasking capabilities will now grant the ability to all apps to work in the background (iOS 6 restricted this capability to a handful Apple apps only) without significant drains on the battery, so content-based apps can grab content as it becomes available (push-based) versus when requested by the user (pull-based).
If you are an Android user, you may be scratching your head and wondering why it’s taken Apple so long to bring features like the above to the iPhone. To be fair, Apple has been focusing their energy on a foolproof OS, which sometimes means making compromises on capabilities, but with an eroding marketshare and Samsung hot on their heels, the gloves have come off in the smartphone wars. For a full list of features, you can visit Apple’s iOS 7 website.
Proving that sometimes our Congress people come by their paychecks honestly, a bi-partisan privacy caucus led by Joe Barton (Rep. TX) sent a list of questions to Google’s CEO Larry Page, asking him point blank about several privacy issues, including whether or not Google would allow the use of facial recognition technology on the device.
Supposedly, Google has maintained from the start that facial recognition would never be implemented without “strong privacy protections in place.” In a Google+ post Friday, they reiterated this position and stated that Google “…won’t be approving any facial recognition Glassware at this time.”
What this means for you:
By default, Android OS-based devices can only install software via Google’s Play store. Software distributed via Play must go through Google’s approval process, much like apps on Apple’s iTunes store, so you can assume that Google will be true to their word and prevent distribution of facial recognition apps simply by not approving them. However, unlike iPhones, many versions of Android allow “sideloading” of apps with a simple settings change. Sideloading in the Android ecosystem is well established – Amazon.com has an app store that requires sideloading to be enabled, and instructions for enabling this capability are easily found on their website and many, many others.
Bottom line: this is yet another Pandora’s box that won’t be closed. Facial recognition is a reality, and portable, undetectable devices capable of performing this function are only a step away from today’s consumer technology. Technology (and scientific progress in general) advances despite legal or cultural ramifications. One could argue that society only advances in light of controversial technologies like Google Glass. We are only beginning to glimpse the potential of an always connected and much less private world. Google Glass is only one step in a long, uphill climb.
The upcomign Black Hat security conference features a topic that may give traveling iPhone users second thoughts about using a public charging station to juice up their phones. Three security researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology have built a prototype device that can hack an iPhone through the dock connector merely by being plugged in. Supposedly this hack can be accomplished on the latest iOS update, and does not require any interaction from the user, nor does it rely on the device being jailbroken.
What this means for you:
I’ve always viewed public charging stations as being rather sketchy to begin with, especially the ones that charge you for the service and offer “highspeed charging” which could easily fry your phone’s battery if not the device itself. I’d rather spend a few extra minutes locating a regular wall outlet and using my own equipment. Supposedly the prototype that will be demonstrated at the upcoming conference is too big to fit into a standard Apple-branded iPhone charger, but the designers of the device inferred that stealthier versions wouldn’t be hard to produce at all.
Most modern smartphones combine data and power in the same port (Android phones and most tablets also feature this same convenience) so it may not be just iPhones that will be vulnerable to this method of attack. For now, make sure you use chargers you know are safe regardless of what type of mobile device you use, and avoid public charging stations. This particular cow is well on its way out of that barn.
According to BlackBerry’s CEO, Thorsten Heins, tablets will lose their market dominance in 5 years, to be replaced by, presumably, smartphones like the BlackBerry, and larger monitors. Assuming he is referring to the business space, it’s hard to decide whether his prediction is some parts sour grapes – BlackBerry’s own tablet, the Playbook, was a market failure and nearly bankrupted the company – and some parts wishful, magical thinking to self-fulfill their own business goals, which is to supplant tablets (dominated by the iPad and to a lesser extent Android) with their devices. As is usually the case with controversial predictions, Heins’ prognostications have roots in fact. Apple’s profits have been declining, as has its margins on the iPad, giving analysts cause to speculate on the longevity of the platform.
What this means for you:
Unless you are about to make a substantial investment in bringing tablets into your business processes (and even if you are), Heins’ predictions are likely to have little impact on you. BlackBerry wants to be considered a competitor in the mobile device space, and as they can’t compete on the tablet level, the traditional business tactic one can take in this situation is to attempt to invalidate the competition’s strategy by influencing the market. “Tablet’s will be dead in five years. Everyone will be using BlackBerries,” makes for good headlines, but any student of technology history will tell you that smarter technology leaders and innovators got more wrong than right when attempting to predict the future.
Analysts are predicting that Apple will iterate on its popular smartphone in June, releasing the iPhone 5s that will have minor hardware and software upgrades to entice the bleeding edge Apple faithful. If the pattern seems familiar, it’s because Apple did the same thing with the iPhone 4s which followed its predecessor, the “4” in less than a year. It’s unclear whether the iPhone 5s launch will have the same impact as the 4s, which debuted with the popular but buggy “Siri” service. More importantly, Apple-watchers are predicting that the Cupertino company will debut a “lower cost” version of their iPhone in September, specifically to combat Android’s growing market share. An unlocked iPhone typically sells well north of $600 brand new, whereas Android devices can be bought off-contract for less than $300, which is where analysts expect the budget iPhone to land in the pricing wars.
What this means for you:
While most folks are usually more than satisfied with 2-3 year-old iPhones, if you’ve been waiting to upgrade, Apple’s pattern of hardware release usually means that the “s” version of an iPhone is a good investment. If you are still rocking an iPhone 3, the 5s will be a very nice upgrade with a noticeable improvement in speed and functionality. If you are one of the few that tries to avoid AT&T’s and Verizon’s financially-questionable 2-year contracts and you don’t want to plunk down six bills or more for an unlocked 5s, hold on to that older iPhone for a couple more months to see if Apple makes good on the low-cost iPhone in September of this year.
Apple has joined the growing ranks of digital services enabling two-factor authentication as a means to protect their customers from account theft. Two-factor authentication has long been a staple of secure corporate and government networks, and employs a basic mechanic of password plus a randomly-generated authentication code that is delivered to a device that you must have in your possession at the time of authentication. In the past, this device has traditionally taken the form of keychain fobs and cards whose sole purpose was to generate numeric keys constantly, but this same functionality can now be delivered through apps that are installable on smartphones, via SMS message to registered cell phones, or even via automated voice calls to your home or office phone.
What this means for you:
In Apple’s case (as with services like Gmail, Facebook, and many massive, multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft), two-factor authentication is an opt-in service, and is not enabled by default with your Apple ID/iTunes account. Enabling the extra security requires you register one or more cell phones with Apple that will receive your authentication code via SMS. Should you do this? If you use services that require an AppleID (iTunes, iCloud, Mac.com, etc.) with any frequency, and especially if you have iTunes credit banked, you should absolutely enable two-factor authentication, especially if the account is tied to a core service you rely on, such as a Mac.com email address, or iCloud for your iPhone and other Apple devices. Two-factor security makes your AppleID (or any other account like Gmail, etc.) that much harder to hack. There will be some inconvenience, especially if you are in a hurry to access your account and have to hassle with the extra security code entry, but imagine the alternative if your account is hacked.
With greater security comes less convenience, a fact of life in this digital age, and not something that will change in the foreseeable future without a significant evolution in security technology.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Classic car enthusiasts have bemoaned the industry’s shift towards computerizing every aspect of automotive operations, especially things that in the past could be tuned and maintained with a set of tools and a little elbow grease. The rise of technologies like fuel-injection, ABS and automatic transmissions have made our cars some of the most sophisticated electronics we use on a regular basis, aside from our smart phones and computers, and like them, sometimes we know very little about how to keep them operating at top efficiency. A new company, Automatic, aims to change that with a small device called the “Automatic Link” which plugs into your car’s ODB-II port – the same one auto shops use to run diagnostics on any car made after 1996.
The device connects to your iPhone via Bluetooth, and using telemetric data gathered by your car’s own onboard computers, GPS data tracked on your phone, and (presumably) some powerful cloud-based data analysis, will analyze your driving habits and start to put together recommendations on how to drive more safely and efficiently, as well as providing historical analysis of all previous travels in your vehicle including time spent on the road, distance traveled, and average fuel-efficiency. If it spots trouble with one of your car’s systems, instead of flashing a cryptic message code that you have to dig out of your car’s instruction manual, it will again leverage the internet to provide more meaningful clues as to what might be wrong, and then show you nearby highly-rated auto mechanics that can help.
What this means for you:
The Automatic Link isn’t shipping until May of this year, so aside from media hype, all we have to go on are the promises of Automatic’s website. At the moment, it’s only being launched for iPhones, so if you aren’t among the Apple faithful, you are out of luck at the moment. This device is following a growing trend where we are tying larger portions of our lives to our smartphones, which, as I’m hoping you realize, is a double-edged sword. There are a great many benefits to be gained from devices such as this – but at what cost to your personal privacy. No doubt, Automatic has plans for the massive amount of data these devices can gather, and I imagine the demographic information contained within has any location-based business salivating at the prospects.
You might not have realized this, but in 2012, US Copyright Office let an exception to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) expire that suddenly made it illegal to unlock a cellphone you owned, for the purposes of using it with a different carrier. Passed in 1998, the DMCA covers many areas of modern technology, but the exception essentially allowed consumers to unlock phones like the Apple iPhone themselves, as opposed to purchasing a (much more expensive) unlocked phone or asking/paying the carrier to unlock the phone for you after you’ve paid for the phone through a subsidized contract. Though the exception lapsed late last year, the Whitehouse and the FCC have both issued statements urging Congress to legalize unlocking.
What this means for you:
In the US, unlocking your smartphone doesn’t have quite the same value as it does in other parts of the world, primarily because the two largest carriers operate networks that use two different technologies that are not found in any one phone. For example, if you had an AT&T iPhone, you can’t unlock it and move to Verizon, because the actual hardware will only work on GSM networks (Verizon is a CDMA-based network) but you could use it on T-Mobile’s network. The carriers aren’t really interested in seeing the exception renewed, primarily because it narrow’s consumer choice and “locks” unknowning customer with technology that, while simple to crack, is technically illegal to actually do without the carrier’s permission.
The issue rarely surfaces for most consumers anyways, as the carriers offer “free” or heavily discounted phones (with a multi-year contract, of course!) to “new” customers, so most opt to get something shiny and new, versus unlocking their 2-year old phone. The issue here is really more centered around protection of consumer rights and the fact that if you own something, you should be able to do whatever you want with it as long as it isn’t impacting the well-being of others. Unfortunately, the Whitehouse and the FCC can’t do anything about the DMCA or renewing the exception because the Copyright Office is governed by Congress. And we all know how productive they’ve been lately.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
In what many analysts are seeing as another setback for beleaguered BlackBerry, the US Department of Defense has now announced that it will start allowing the use of iPhones and Android devices in a space that was once the domain of BlackBerry devices. In the early days of mobile email delivery, BlackBerry devices were designed for enterprise-controlled security, where as the other email-capable devices still relied on immature internet standards, or like Apple’s early iPhones, completely eschewed corporate control. Because of this, BlackBerry became the defacto standard for any business that valued security over style, including pretty much every government agency around the world.
What this means for you:
Don’t count BlackBerry out just yet, but the count is getting shorter and shorter, and at some point the referree might need to stop the fight. The Pentagon isn’t getting rid of BlackBerries (that would be a haymaker they won’t get up from), but they are now opening up the space for departments to use solutions from other vendors (namely Apple and Android). This is a signal to the rest of the world that might have been sceptical of iOS or Android’s security status that if the world’s most powerful military is willing to consider using iPhones and Androids, maybe those platforms have finally caught (and passed) BlackBerry on the security front.