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Apple Releases Quicktime 7.6 Update, Aimed at All Users

Aviv — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:34:35 +0000

Apple has released Quicktime 7.6, which most notably addresses security, performance, compatibility and reliability issues. The update is aimed at all users, and weighs in between 72MB and 20MB in size.

In a support note issued by Apple, they explain specifics involved regarding the update, “QuickTime 7.6 includes changes that increase reliability, improve compatibility and enhance security. This release is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.”

Users can download the application by navigating to Software Update through the Apple menu in OS X, or you can download the update from Apple’s Software Downloads page.

The update addresses the following:

Video:
Improves single-pass H.264 encoding quality
Increases the playback reliability of Motion JPEG media

Audio:
Improves AAC encoding fidelity
Audio tracks from MPEG video files now export consistently

Application Support:
Improves compatibility with iChat and Photo Booth

The Importance Of Backing Up and the Increasing Virus Threat

Michael Rosenthal — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:25:17 +0000

Do Mac users need to lose sleep over the malware that plagues our PC using friends? Do we need to load up on antivirus and antispyware and antirootkit software? Probably not. There is a better solution: bootable clones.

The more knowledgeable PC users know that the greatest vulvernability to malware assault resides in user habits, opening email attachments and clicking at inappropriate sites. The best PC antimalware publishers often have trouble keeping up with the lastest that the evildoers have produced. There are several new viruses released into the wild daily. Their number is approaching 200K. None of them has any effect on the Apple platform.

Symptoms of a Virus Infection

When the day arrives that Mac users experience abnormal computer behavior resulting from malware, such as alarming notices or impaired function of applications, they will notice that their antiimalware and firewall have been disabled. Some of the most recent malware disables the abillity of the user to uninstall the new arrival. In short, the most sophisticated malware disables all known defenses, before it gets down to business. Then the hard drive usually becomes very sluggish or unusable. It is often possible to offload data before reformatting and reinstalling the operating system; followed by installing applications, settings, passwords and data. Much is usually lost along the way, along with hours or days of time.

Viruses versus Spyware versus Rootkits

For a long time it has been possible to think of viruses as malware that could place irritating little notices on your computer or permanently disable it. Spyware has a more commercial intent. It inveigles its way onto your hard drive and recruits your computer into an army of robots (“bots”) that can be called upon to forward spam. It is often downloaded with Kazaa, Limewire or other freeware that enabled questionable activity. The most common symptom of spyware presence is pronounced slowing of all computer activity. Today, the distinction between the two is blurred. Some spyware can be as malignant as a virus.

Rootkits are a relatively new class of malware that get themselves installed so deeply into the system that they are not detectable by normal antimalware tools. They enable remote control of a machine for evil intent.

The Elegant Solution: Bootable Clones

Enterprise IT pros, photographers and videographers who live by their digital product have long known of the importance of backup; usually making multiple copies. These are generally data or file backups. Ted Landau, developer of MacFixIt and a member of the first generation of Mac columnists, has famously said that you have not backed up until you have done it twice. He relates how in a couple of clicks he erased his hard drive and, in a momentary lapse, his only backup drive, as well.

The rationale behind data backup was orginally being prepared for the failure of your computer’s drive. Leopard’s Time Machine does an admirable job of backup, but neither of these methods is a complete solution to a corrupted drive. Bootable clones are.

A clone is a bit-for-bit copy. When you have cloned your computer’s hard drive to an external drive you have an alternative to boot from, generally using using the Start Up Preference Panel or Target Mode, if connected by Firewire. (Pre-Intel Macs can can only boot through a Firewire connection. Intel Macs can boot from an external drive connected with USB 2 or Firewire.)

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Apple Pulls Antivirus Support Page Over Widespread Confusion

Dave — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:16:51 +0000

Following a veritable upheaval of disbelief across the web surrounding Apple’s recommendation of utilizing various antivirus applications on Macs, that as it turned out had been present on Apple’s website for over a year’s time, has now apparently been pulled possibly due to the common lack of understanding.

The Apple support document in question had stated, “Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one program to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult,” adding the recommendation of applications such as Intego VirusBarrier X4, Norton Anti-Virus for Macintosh, and Virex.

Yet after heavy circulation of this off-putting news, scrutinizing eyes had determined that the last date of modification to the article was made on June 08, 2007. ArsTechnica notes that the confusion came through updates to each vendor’s latest application versions, adding that it would typically be unnecessary to use multiple antivirus apps simultaneously. So Apple was referring the fact that as long as users are running one of the recommended applications, it is more difficult for malware to infiltrate your machine. At any rate, Apple has decided to remove the article, for a possible rewrite to avoid confusing language, yet the original can still be found viewed here.

Apple Recommends Antivirus Software For The First Time Ever [U]

Christina — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:46:58 +0000

For the first time ever Apple is encouraging its customers to install antivirus software on their Macs for added protection and security.

As Apple’s market share increases, so does the likelihood of malicious viruses being spread. As many have argued in the past, the reason Apple’s computers are currently so safe is because their market share is tiny in comparison to Windows. The more people that switch to Macs and begin adopting the platform, the bigger the target gets for malware developers. While it may seem ironic for Apple to recommend antivirus software while touting the lack of malware on its computers, we take it as a breath of fresh air. As market share continues to grow, so should Apple’s awareness regarding safety and security.

Support Note: “Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult. Here are some available antivirus utilities:”

Mac OS: Antivirus utilities
• Intego VirusBarrier X5, available from the Apple Online Store
License: commercial
• Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh, available from the Apple Online Store
License: commercial
• McAfee VirusScan for Mac
License: commercial

Viruses: Get a Mac commercial.

Spyware: Get a Mac commercial.

Updates: The support document was not a brand new one, and as our friends at MDN point out, was published back in June 2007 for the first time.

Apple Releases Software Update 1.2 for Macbook, Macbook Pro

Aviv — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:55:21 +0000

Apple has released a software update for users of the Macbook and Macbook Pro. The update is available via Software Update (or by download here) and weighs in at a beefy 45 MB.

Although the new notebooks are shipping today, they are not available at any Apple retail stores, so the beefy updates come with a little bit of a surprise.

About MacBook, MacBook Pro Software Update 1.2
This update contains software bug fixes for precision aluminum unibody enclosure MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers introduced in October 2008.

The update improves compatibility with external displays and includes a variety of software fixes. This update is recommended for all users of these systems.

Read – Apple Support Documents

Apple Helps Mozilla Fix Potential Graphics Exploit in Firefox

Aviv — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:14:55 +0000

With help from Apple Inc., Mozilla has been able to successfully fix crash errors in their flagship product, “Firefox”.

The Mozilla organization says that Apple helped fix crash errors in their Firefox browser. Earlier versions of Firefox 3 were said to have bugs that would repeatedly cause the software to crash, sometimes even corrupting memory at the same time. Mozilla explains that the bugs were creating an exploit for a malicious party to launch arbitrary code, such as malware, however no threats have emerged.

Two of the fixed bugs in Firefox were found by Drew Yao of Apple Product Security, in the software’s image rendering code. Additionally, several related bugs were discovered in other areas of Firefox, such as the JavaScript and layout engines. “A portion of these also affected software other than Firefox 3, including Firefox 2, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey; users who update to the latest versions of the programs, such as Firefox 3.0.2, should however be in the clear.”

[via Macnn]

Shhhhhhh, Your iPhone is Watching Your Every Move

Dave — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:03:13 +0000

A recent diagnostic has determined that everything you do on your iPhone is temporarily stored as a screenshot, and can eventually be recovered.

According to iPhone hacker and data-forensics expert, Jonathan Zdziarski, iPhones capture screenshots of your most recent activity, no matter what it may be, in order to cache it. Every time the home button is pressed, the window of the last used application shrinks and disappears. In order to create this effect, the device snaps a screenshot.

While the device is presumed to delete these images after an application is closed, Zdziarski advocates that anyone who understands data, is aware that just because a screenshot is deleted does not mean that these files are permanently removed. Thus, forensic experts have utilized this to gather evidence against criminals and convicted felons. Sounds a bit scary huh?

“There’s no way to prevent it,” Zdziarski said during the webcast. “I’m kind of divided on it. I hope Apple fixes it because it’s a significant privacy leak, but at the same time it’s been useful for investigating criminals.”

Despite the fact that these screenshots are captured only when the user presses the home button, Zdziarski notes that this is only one of several ways that evidence can be collected. Other ways of obtaining information include nabbing data from the keyboard cache, Safari cache, Google Map inputs…etc.

Zdziarski aslo noted the steps that can be taken to gain full access to an iPhone through bypassing the device’s passcode. “To make a long story short, the process involved using Pwnage to create a custom firmware bundle and tweaking it with rather arcane methods to delete the iPhone’s passcode protection. Once set up, the technique can be used over and over on different iPhones, Zdziarski added.”

This isn’t the first time that pretty scary and controversial issues have come up surrounding the iPhone’s home button. Back on August 27th a major security flaw was exposed where a malicious user could access an iPhone’s sensitive information, by double clicking the home button from anywhere. Luckily, at the Let’s Rock Media Event Apple CEO Steve Jobs promised a major iPhone Software Update and yesterday, it landed. One of the fixes delivered was was a patch to the security flaw just explained.

[via Wired]

iPhone Software 2.1 Apple Finally Gets It Right

Aviv — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:02:16 +0000

Only a few hours ago, Apple released iPhone Software Update 2.1 for all iPhone users. Though the update has only been available for a few hours, early usage feels very promising with increased reception, signal strength, and overall device and app stability.

I have been using iPhone Software 2.1 for about 2 hours now. The update installed very quickly, and my iPhone 3G was ready to use within about 20 minutes. Immediately I noticed that every app that previously hadn’t been opening (regardless of restarts and restores), is now launching and staying open. A few of these applications had cost $9.99, so the fact that they work now is great. Regardless of how long Apple took to deliver this software update, they finally did, and that means a lot. Given that they had to counter in all facets of the iPhone’s software and hardware, as well as multiple cellular networks around the world, while simultaneously delivering a software update to all users (globally), Apple has delivered as promised this time.

My iPhone 3G’s interface and operating system is beginning to feel more like the first generation iPhone that was launched rather “bug-free.” Text messaging is much more responsive, the keyboard actually responds to my input, my contacts load faster, same with my email. Prior to this update, my iPhone would get hung up a lot when downloading large amounts of email from the mail server, and now it works like a charm. AT&T has pretty solid 3G coverage here in Portland, and within the last 90 minutes, voice clarity and call stability has also been improved. Ya know when you’re talking to someone on your iPhone and then you get the “kshhhhh” sound, and then they’re gone? That hasn’t happened yet with 2.1.

One tricky line that Apple included in the list below is this “Improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display.” This would technically mean that the accuracy of the reception signal display bars is more accurate with 2.1, but not the actual reception. Apparently there was an issue with the display bars previous to this update, although I don’t know how users could have known, because we had no reception for it to attempt and display.

Apple describes the fixes in iPhone Software Update 2.1 as follows:
• Decrease in call set-up failures and dropped calls
• Significantly better battery life for most users
• Dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
• Improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
• Faster installation of 3rd party applications
• Fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes for users with lots of third party applications
• Improved performance in text messaging
• Faster loading and searching of contacts
• Improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
• Repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages
• Option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
• Genius playlist creation

Additionally, the 2.1 Software Update also fixes a major security flaw that was previously exposed with iPhone Software 2.0.2.

I’m not the only one loving this new software. iPhone users all over the web are reporting back significant increases in signal strength, reception, interface speed, app stability, overall performance, data speeds… pretty much everything that has been giving iPhone users headaches over the past weeks, Apple is addressing here.

It seems like Steve Jobs held up to his promise, and Apple finally got it right. If you haven’t downloaded iPhone Software Update 2.1, it’s available through iTunes. You can learn more about it at Apple’s website as well.

Confirmed: Apple iPhone Update Coming in September

Aviv — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:28:06 +0000

A major security flaw has recently been uncovered inside Apple’s iPhone OS. The flaw would allow unauthorized access to data on the device, even when the passcode was set to “on.” Macworld has received an email from Apple confirming an iPhone update in September that would directly address this flaw.

In an email to MacWorld Apple representative, Jennifer Bowcock, confirmed the following: “The minor iPhone security issue which surfaced this week is fixed in a software update which will be released in September.”

Until the security fix is released in a future software update, Bowcock (yes, Bow-Cock) offered some advice to protect the data on your iPhone from prying eyes. In your iPhone settings, make sure that “double-clicking the home button” takes the user directly to the home screen. Which will be the unlock screen if password protection will be on.

The above image represents the steps necessary to protect your iPhone against the security flaw.

Below, are the steps needed to recreate the security flaw:

1. Set iPhone to use passcode lock, have contacts marked as Favorites with links, phone numbers, addresses, etc in address book entry.

2. Tap “Emergency Call” keypad from passcode entry screen.

3. Double-tap home button.

4. Tap blue arrow next to contact’s name. You now have full access to applications such as Safari, complete Contacts list, SMS, Maps, “full” Phone access, and Mail by accessing various entries on the Favorite’s page, i.e. tapping their home page brings up a full, unrestricted Safari.

Major Security Flaw in iPhone Software 2.0.2

Aviv — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:31:02 +0000

Many users were excited about Apple’s iPhone Software Update 2.0.2, expecting it to clarify some on-going network and reception issues. Unfortunately, the 3G network issues remain the same, and now a major security flaw has been exposed in 2.0.2.

Despite Apple’s acknowledgment about poor 3G network reception, the latest update was supposed to “partially fix” the reception between the device and the network.

Unfortunately, most, if not all of the 3G reception issues remain, and now a major security flaw has been exposed. MacRumors forum user greenmymac has posted the flaw, and listed the steps necessary to recreate it.

1. Set iPhone to use passcode lock, have contacts marked as Favorites with links, phone numbers, addresses, etc in address book entry.

2. Tap “Emergency Call” keypad from passcode entry screen.

3. Double-tap home button.

4. Tap blue arrow next to contact’s name. You now have full access to applications such as Safari, complete Contacts list, SMS, Maps, “full” Phone access, and Mail by accessing various entries on the Favorite’s page, i.e. tapping their home page brings up a full, unrestricted Safari.

Pretty scary stuff here people. The iPhone has much more personal information inside of it then a regular phone. If it gets into the hands of the wrong person, they may have access to all of your email, notes, phone numbers, pictures, and any other personal information you may have stored on the device. Switching on the passcode lock was supposed to secure most of this information from prying eyes, however a savvy user may now be able to find his way around your passcode lock and into your information.

[via CultofMac via Macrumors Forums]