Guide to Mac, iPod, iPad and iPhone news and reviews
Do you have an older Mac that is not able to run MacOS Ventura, but that you’d like to run MacOS Ventura on? You may be able to accomplish that through the help of a third party tool called OpenCore. While the official list of Macs compatible wit…
There’s a new kind of spyware going around called Xssar that’s reportedly targeting protestors in Hong Kong. The spyware — which appears to have ties to Android malware discovered last week — is installed via a Debian package and requires a victim’s iPhone or iPad to be jailbroken. Breaking the root jail of iOS can provide for functionality beyond what Apple currently ships, but also strips away Apple’s built-in iOS security. The same way jailbroken software can be loaded, malicious software can be loaded. So what’s going on with Xssar and how can you protect yourself?
Reuters has a quasi-report up that mislabels Xssar as a virus, doesn’t link back to its source, and neglects to mention that only jailbroken iOS devices seem to be vulnerable, but does provide the following overview:
The malicious software, known as Xsser, is capable of stealing text messages, photos, call logs, passwords and other data from Apple mobile devices, researchers with Lacoon Mobile Security said on Tuesday. They uncovered the spyware while investigating similar malware for Google Inc’s Android operating system last week that also targeted Hong Kong protesters. Anonymous attackers spread the Android spyware via WhatsApp, sending malicious links to download the program, according to Lacoon.
Lacoon itself is more thorough:
Lacoon hasn’t uncovered information regarding the method or vector of attack. The iOS device needs to be jailbroken in order to be infected. Then with Cydia installed, the repository would be need to be added and then the package could be installed. All that’s known is that both the iOS and Android attacks share a CnC server. The package itself is a debian .deb package. The package installs an iOS ‘launchd’ service to make sure the app starts after booting and in addition starts it up immediately.
If you think you’re at risk from Xssar, until more is known about how it is being spread, removing your jailbreak by upgrading or restoring to an official version of iOS is the best way to protect yourself.
Nick Arnott contributed to this article.
Apps are making it a little too easy to avoid fellow humans. You don’t have to hail a cab, order food delivery over the phone, or even walk down to the
laundromat, all thanks to apps. But sometimes you have queries that need to be answered by actual people. Don’t worry: Path will handle that for you.
You can “message” businesses on Path Talk, which really means that Path reps call businesses for you.
The social network, once considered a Facebook rival, in June spun off its chat feature into a stand-alone app called Talk—like Facebook
did with Messenger. Path also bought messaging app TalkTo, which lets you text a business with questions. Now Talk and TalkTo have been combined so you can message a place directly from Talk.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple has announced that for the month of October it will be accepting donations through the iTunes Store on behalf of City of Hope in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. City of Hope is a research facility that focuses on prevention and treatment of not only cancer, but many serious diseases such as lymphoma. The Cupertino […]
On Tuesday Apple provided developers and beta testers with the GM build of OS X Yosemite, which will likely be the version that ships to consumers later in October (although since this is only a “GM candidate” we may see another build sometime before then). Earlier we noted that this build includes updated videos to […]
In line with previous claims, Bloomberg is now reporting that Apple is planning to introduce a gold model to its iPad lineup with the release of the next-generation iPad Air. Interestingly, the report is specific to note that the full-size model will get the color while the mini line goes without mention. Per the report: […]
As OS X Yosemite is nearing release, Apple is now calling on developers to submit apps that are optimized for and compatible with the new OS for review in the Mac App Store. The call for app submissions come on the heels of Apple making a gold master …
Just in time to counter the news about Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 10 operating system (via the BBC), Apple today launched a “golden master candidate” for OS X Yosemite. That means that development of the system is largely at an end, and that from now…
When Apple announced Apple Pay earlier this month, PayPal was conspicuously absent from Apple’s list of secured partnerships. Now comes word via Ian Kar of BankInnovation that PayPal was initially part of Apple’s vision of Apple Pay, but that…
iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users will soon be able to use Siri to access credit cards stored in the Passbook app, if the beta version of iOS 8.1 is any indicator. We’ve already seen the Apple Pay privacy statement and other asssets pointing to this release being the one that enables the payment system […]
Apple re-uploaded its Apple Watch introduction video to YouTube today with a few small changes to the design of the device. It seems the company’s initial renders of the watch were not as accurate as they could have been, as the new version—which also appears on Apple.com now—sports a noticeably smaller screen… The change, which […]
Reports that PayPal was trying to cozy up with Apple for its mobile payment system are almost as old as the rumors about Apple Pay itself. We last reported on the rumors way back in January, and now a new report from Bank Innovation (via MacRumors) claims all that work came to naught. In fact, the veteran Internet payment company apparently signed a deal with Samsung to power its own fingerprint payment system for its Galaxy S5 units.
Apple apparently made the decision to end the talks. Understandably, PayPal’s move incensed the Cupertino company, and it’s said that the partnership with Samsung led to Apple’s surprise decision to exclude PayPal from the dev kit for Apple Pay entirely.
The deal with Samsung “was reportedly forced onto PayPal by eBay CEO John Donahoe,” the report says. “PayPal’s now-former president David Marcus was purportedly categorically against the Samsung deal, knowing that it would jeopardize PayPal’s relationship with Apple. Donahoe won the day, however.”
The rift between the two companies seemingly runs deep now, and its effects were more visibly seen in a recent PayPal ad in the New York Times (also noted by MacRumors) that pointed to the iCloud celebrity snafu as proof of the comparative safety of its payment service, which greatly resembles Apple Pay in concept. “We the people,” the ad read, “want our money safer than our selfies.” Ouch.
But business may soon get rough for PayPal. Word also dropped today from CNN that eBay plans to split PayPal off as its own company again despite recent successes, which only adds to the clash between Marcus and Donahoe. And if Apple Pay turns out to be as “cool” as Apple CEO Tim Cook hopes, PayPal could end up fighting for its very survival. For its part, eBay (which still owns PayPal for now) now claims to welcome the competition from Apple Pay, as reported by MarketWatch.
“I’m hoping that the recent tokenization and Apple Pay announcements begin to accelerate the pace of NFC (near-field communication) adoption. I don’t know if that will be the case, but if it does, we think that’s a very good thing for PayPal,” John Donahoe said in the report.
Follow this article’s writer, Leif Johnson, on Twitter.
Over the weekend, Ariel Adams of aBlogtoWatch posted an incredibly detailed and informative hands-on review of the Apple Watch. While there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding the Apple Watch in terms of pricing, availability, and even…
This week’s roundup of new Mac apps has everything you need to make sure your important thoughts never slip through the cracks.
Aurelio Calegari’s $3 CosmAtlas (Mac App Store Link) lets you look at the sky any time of day—and from the convenience of your Mac.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
One of the biggest, yet still mostly undelivered promises of the iPad age is for this device to become the universal textbook. Use this small, light piece of glass and metal to replace not just heavy and expensive textbooks, but open up the vast…
Pebble has had a big day at the end of September, and while a price drop for their wearables might be big enough for most people, a new software update is also bringing in new features.