With nearly 160,000 lust-ridden techies, corporate denizens and a few of us security types descending on a slightly crisp wintery Las Vegas to see what all the fuss is about at CES 2015, here are a few things to keep an eye out for this year at the show.
The post CES 2015 in Las Vegas: first impressions, 5 hot topics appeared first on We Live Security.
Mike Mimoso and Dennis Fisher talk about the Windows Schannel vulnerability and whether it’s ripe for mass exploitation, as well as the WireLurker attack and why Apple hasn’t addressed it.
Yes, this is not a typo for the first time, AVG PC TuneUp will also include an all-new AVG iOS Cleaner feature to help users get rid of the hidden leftover files, which can amount to thousands, from both iOS itself as well as apps used on a daily basis.
In this and the next blog post I’d like to talk about what’s new for our PC utility AVG PC TuneUp. Let’s jump right in?
That’s right. We know that a lot of users out there are struggling with disk space on their iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch). They’re getting messages like this when snagging a photo or downloading apps:
Also, iTunes seems to explicably show that there’s a lot of stuff in the “Other†or “Documents & Data†category. Well, if you’re running out of disk space, hidden clutter may be the culprit. That’s why we came up with AVG Cleaner for iOS. Since it’s technically not possible to have an app delete hidden temporary files and other unneeded files (more on that below), we’re doing that right from our PC and it’s the reason it’s part of AVG PC TuneUp.
How exactly does it work? (Step by Step)
Open up AVG PC TuneUp and select “Dashboardâ€. Then, go to the “Clean up†category.
Connect your Apple device to your PC and click on ‘Clean Up iPhone, iPad or iPod touch’.
Hit the ‘Clean Now’ button. Have a look at the results.
How much did we clean up?
I was as surprised as you will be when I first laid my hands on an early version of our AVG Cleaner FOR iOS months ago: It found a LOT of unexpected files on my iDevices. I guess the biggest surprise was my iPad:
7.5 GB on my iPad. Another 500 MB on my iPhone 5S and more than 700 MB on my iPod touch. So how’s that even possible?
I found that rather incredible, and even more so after my iPad showed another 1 GB just a few weeks later:
Digging deeper, I found that many of the daily apps I use create a lot of temporary files without deleting them. For example, after 2-3 days of Spotify streaming, its offline cache grew up to 655 MB on my iPad. But what is all this stuff? Let’s find out:
Download Cache & Temporary Files
Most apps create a “Cache†and “Temporary Files†folder to store data that’s needed while they are running. Unfortunately, many apps tend to forget to clean out these hidden downloads, which may result in your iOS device running out of space soon.
AVG Cleaner™ for iOS cleans out these hidden cache folders. Even according to Apple’s official guidelines, the cache folder is safe to delete as it includes data that can easily be renewed or downloaded again by the app – so we’re not doing anything harmful to your device. In fact, it may help even solve some problems when one of these cache files gets corrupted or damaged by a bug in the app.
Thumbnail Cache
Every time you browse a photo related app, it creates thumbnail files to display the little previews (see image above), but may forget to delete them even if they’re no longer necessary.
AVG Cleaner™ for iOS cleans out all thumbnail files from 3rd party apps. It gets rid of all thumbnail files that are no longer being used and will only recreate the ones you need. Don’t worry, your stored photos will not be touched.
System Logs & Crash Reports
Every time an app crashes or an error occurs on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, a crash report and logs will be created. If you want to, these can be sent to Apple or the maker of the app. However, these reports take up valuable storage and may even contain personal information.
AVG Cleanerâ„¢ for iOS helps users delete system logs and crash reports, free up more disc space and the protect your privacy by removing personal information within these cookies.
Ok that’s it for now: Have you tried it out? Let us know how much you were able to clean up!
Apple has updated its operating system for Mac, so users can now get the long-sought after Yosemite OS X for free. Even though it has just appeared on the scene, the first alarm bells have already started to ring: Many users are unhappy about handing over even more private information to the technology giants.
The latest upgrade to Apple’s operating system includes an improved version of Spotlight, the search system that simplifies searching for files on the computer. So what’s different about Yosemite? It does the same as before but now it connects directly to the Internet through the Bing search engine and also searches your contacts and emails.
This way, your Mac computer runs your search both on your own system as well as on the Web. Spotlight also offers you ‘smart’ suggestions from the App Store, iTunes Store and the Internet in general based on your search history.
The system doesn’t just send information about your habits and location through Bing to Microsoft, it also reports this data in real-time to Apple’s servers. So both companies will have data about any search that anyone does through Spotlight.
Apple claims that it doesn’t receive individualized search details and that Microsoft only collects general search data, which at no time includes personal identification of users or device IP addresses. According to the company, this is because the devices only use a temporary and anonymous session ID, which lasts fifteen minutes and then disappears.
Yet most users are unaware that this latest update implies such a loss of privacy, as the option is enabled by default when updating the OS. So is it possible to evade such surveillance and all those ‘useful’ suggestions? Luckily for users it is.
Just go to ‘System Preferences’ in the Apple menu, where you will see the Spotlight icon. Click it to find a list of different categories including the option ‘Spotlight Suggestions’. Clear the checkbox. Then go through the categories until you find ‘Bing Web Searches’, and ‘Bookmarks & History’, which you should also disable.
If you use Safari, you will have to similarly disable ‘Spotlight Suggestions’ by clicking ‘Preferences’ and ‘Search’. And problem solved! Because if you don’t, Safari will send a copy of your searches to Apple.
To simplify things further, security developer and researcher Landon Fuller has created ‘Fix Mac OS X’, which lets you automate the process of disabling these options with a single click. According to Fuller, Spotlight isn’t the only feature with unnecessary changes that is introduced with the update, and he explains that his application will also fix other settings enabled by default.
This way, you can prevent these companies from saving your search data and then offering you certain services or products having analyzed your likes, needs or intentions. You will also prevent annoying, unwanted adverts and safeguard the files on your computer.
For the moment, Apple has declared that the company is wholly committed to protecting user privacy and, with respect to Spotlight, claims that it “minimizes the amount of information sent to Appleâ€, and even that the search tool “blurs the location on the deviceâ€, so the company doesn’t receive the exact location.
More | Panda Antivirus for Mac, compatible with Yosemite
The post How to prevent Apple from knowing where you are and what you’re looking for, after updating to Yosemite appeared first on MediaCenter Panda Security.
A new malware has been discovered that targets both Apple Mac computers and iPhones, Neowin reports. It is the first known malware that can infect iPhones that have not been jailbroken.
The post WireLurker: new malware targets Apple users appeared first on We Live Security.
The last year has produced a rogues’ gallery of vulnerabilities in transport layer security implementations and new attacks on the key protocols, from Heartbleed to the Apple gotofail flaw to the recent POODLE attack. To help developers and security researchers identify applications that are vulnerable to known SSL/TLS attacks and configuration problems, Google is releasing a […]
Make sure you are running a half-decent browser, don’t ignore browser security warnings, and enable two-factor authentication.
That appears to be the lesson to learn from the latest attack on Chinese internet users.
The post iCloud users in China under attack. But who could be after their passwords? appeared first on We Live Security.
On September 9, Tim Cook gave us the lowdown on Apple’s latest innovations, among them, Apple Pay. For those who don’t know, this is an electronic payment system, a type of digital wallet, available for iPhone and Apple Watch and which will first begin to operate with partners such as Mastercard, Visa and American Express in October in the U.S. before being extended to other countries.
This innovation will allow user to pay for goods in stores as well as through other applications. Many already wonder whether in the not too distant future this type of payment may become commonplace, and if so, whether it will be secure. Having your hard-earned money passed from one online digital application to another without ever physically having your hands on it is still a concept many of us are yet to feel entirely comfortable with. And with good reason, any cyber-criminal that accesses your device could have access to your money.
The experts however, believe that this could be a secure option for the transactions of the future. So what type of security does it use?
Apple has explained that transactions with this system will be secure because it uses a method known as ‘tokenization’. This is a system often used by financial institutions because it replaces the traditional digits of credit and debit cards with a complex code (‘token’) generated at random, which only keeps that last four digits from the real number and is transmitted between devices.
The great advantage of these numbers is that on their own they are useless and they are only used once. Every time a payment is made a new number is generated. So even if they are intercepted, they can’t be used for anything. This means there is no trace of the data on the credit cards. Even the stores don’t save this data on their servers. The credit card number isn’t stored anywhere, rather the number is associated with a device ID that is saved on a chip inside the terminal.
The exchange of data required for the transaction is carried out with near-field communication (NFC) wireless technology. This is an open platform whose strong point is that it enables fast wireless communication over distances of less than 20cm. However, there are those who question its security: the data can be intercepted, although this is precisely the reason that there are stronger security measures.
The transaction is completed with Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor. The user doesn’t have to enter a password: the payment process is completed when the user authorizes it by placing a finger on the iPhone ‘Home’ button.
Yet besides the ‘tokens’ and Touch ID, there’s another layer of security. Whenever a user goes to pay, their mobile device sends a CVV. This is normally the three-digit number found on the back of a credit card but this time it’s a number randomly generated by the payment application. Consequently, the device identifies itself to the receiver, which verifies that the ‘tokens’ have been created on the order of the card owner.
The way the application works is simple: All you need is one of the Apple devices mentioned above and to place it close to the store’s payment terminal.
The process is as follows: when the application is launched, the device connects securely to the payment system and selects a credit card stored on the chip integrated in the phone and whose number is associated to an identifier in the device.
The identifier is combined with the ‘token’ and then the application asks the user to identify themselves through the Touch ID fingerprint scanner. The information is then sent to the bank by the store and the transaction is confirmed. And that’s it. Secure transactions can be as simple as that.
The post Apple Pay: Apple’s new payment system. appeared first on MediaCenter Panda Security.
Apple has fixed a huge number of security vulnerabilities in OS X and iTunes and, at the same time, is being hit with criticisms about privacy issues in the new version of OS X. The latest version of the operating system, known as Yosemite, sends location information to Apple by default via the Spotlight search […]
FBI Director James Comey said Thursday that the recent movement toward default encryption of smartphones and other devices could “lead us to a very, very dark place.” Echoing comments made by law enforcement officials for the last several decades, Comey said that the advanced cryptosystems available today threaten to cripple the ability of intelligence and law […]
