Checklist 191: TikTok Talk with Patrick Wardle

Checklist 191: TikTok Talk with Patrick Wardle

TikTok. Harmless fun? Or existential threat to the United States? The answer you get depends on who you ask. This week we have a special guest to help us discuss the question in depth — and we’ll get into the larger issues with apps, user data, and digital privacy.

TikTok, apps, and your privacy

In recent weeks, the popular video-sharing app TikTok has made headlines for its practice of monitoring iOS pasteboard data. The pasteboard — kind of a system-wide clipboard for iOS that lets apps access the information copied there — …

July 17, 2020 • 19 min read
Twitter hack was an inside job, sources say

Twitter hack was an inside job, sources say

On Wednesday, multiple verified, high-profile Twitter accounts were compromised, including the accounts of Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple. Hackers made tweets requesting charitable donations in the form of Bitcoin, promising to double any contribution made within the next 30 minutes. The tweets were, of course, fraudulent — and the Bitcoin wallet addresses set up to accept the cryptocurrency “donations” belonged to the scammers.

Twitter reacted quickly to the attack, removing the offending tweets, locking down affected accounts, and preventing users from tweeting or resetting their passwords as the company attempted …

July 16, 2020 • 2 min read
EARN IT Act moves forward, worrying privacy advocates

EARN IT Act moves forward, worrying privacy advocates

The “EARN IT” Act is slowly making its way through the U.S. Senate. Despite strong public criticism, an amended version of the bill was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in early July, setting the stage for full hearings in the near future.

In this article, we’ll discuss the background to EARN IT, and let you know why some people say it’s a serious threat to free speech and digital privacy.

What is EARN IT?

EARN IT (Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies) is the name of a bill currently …

July 15, 2020 • 4 min read
Is Mac malware evolving?

Is Mac malware evolving?

Mac malware is increasing in quantity, and many security researchers say it’s becoming more sophisticated as well. While some Mac users are still a bit blasé about the threats facing the platform, the last few weeks have provided two great examples of the evolution of Mac malware. In what follows, we’ll fill you in on the details, and offer some thoughts about what it all means for the future of macOS security.

Old malware, new delivery method

Security researchers at Intego recently spotted what seemed to be a new variant of Mac …

July 13, 2020 • 5 min read
Browser extensions and your privacy

Browser extensions and your privacy

afari is getting a major overhaul in macOS 11 Big Sur, and one of the most important privacy enhancements has to do with browser extensions

July 8, 2020 • 8 min read
Is TikTok reading your clipboard?

Is TikTok reading your clipboard?

TikTok has been caught snooping on iOS users’ clipboard data. The video-sharing app’s troubling behavior was discovered thanks to a new privacy feature in iOS 14

June 30, 2020 • 4 min read
Checklist 189: WWDC20 and the Mac

Checklist 189: WWDC20 and the Mac

On this week’s Checklist, we cover the biggest Mac news to come out of Apple’s 2020 Worldwide Developer Conference, including a new macOS and Safari, a new processor for Macs and a new way to log in to websites.

June 24, 2020 • 8 min read
10 tips for getting back on the road again

10 tips for getting back on the road again

Covid-19 lockdowns are starting to lift, and people are already beginning to travel for work and family reasons. We’ve shared cybersecurity best practices for travel before, but this year, there are some pandemic-related considerations to add to the list. 

Here, then, are 10 things to keep in mind if you’re going to be hitting the road in the coming months (starting with five “new normal” additions to the usual advice, and rounding things out with five always-relevant tips for secure travel).

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June 18, 2020 • 5 min read
Best of the Checklist: June 18th, 2020

Best of the Checklist: June 18th, 2020

The Checklist will return next week with coverage of WWDC 2020. In the meantime, we’ll catch you up on the latest cybersecurity news — and share several Checklists from the archives that shed light on these stories.

June 18, 2020 • 3 min read