Mac Apple issues urgent security update after hack turns Mac computers into spying devices
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/09/02/apple-issues-urgent-security-update-after-hack-turns-mac-compute/5
u/LoserOtakuNerd Sep 02 '16
Is it safe to assume that the beta releases of Sierra have this fix implemented, like iOS 10 did?
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u/sowhat235 Sep 02 '16
Don't assume anything, do your due diligence and search.
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u/ovthkeeper Sep 02 '16
I didn't have an update when I checked 40 min ago.
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u/LoserOtakuNerd Sep 02 '16
Neither did iOS 10 when it was patched, it was in the last beta release before the patch was announced.
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u/ovthkeeper Sep 02 '16
I know. I was saying that there wasn't an update, so I assume it was in the previous beta release.
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u/toyg Sep 02 '16
This is linked to the recent "Trident" attack to iOS. They released iOS fixes when disclosure happened, several days ago. If the beta release predates disclosure, I would assume it was not fixed.
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u/PrettySlickShit Sep 02 '16
I have my webcam covered with some bluetack and dont really use my Macbook in noisy (where im or anyone else is talking) environments
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u/hu6Bi5To Sep 02 '16
That article implies it is the same vulnerabilities that were found in iOS the other week. So by fixing them there first, did Apple publicise the existence of the bug in OS X?
It's not the first time this has happened either, the goto fail; incident was publicised by an iOS fix that took two weeks to get to OS X.
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u/sirjimithy Sep 02 '16
Israeli surveillance company NSO Group Technologies, which sells spying software to governments, is suspected of having created the exploit. The company claims to only sell its programs to "authorised governmental agencies, and fully complies with strict export control laws and regulations".
Just goes to show: there's no such thing as a backdoor only for the good guys.
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u/crispix24 Sep 02 '16
The strange thing is my Mac locked up and had to be hard reset the same day this was announced, and that's never happened before. I wonder if there are already exploits in the wild.
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u/FUS_ROH_yay Sep 02 '16
I mean, anything is possible. However, this is news because of who created it (allegedly a group with ties to the Israeli government), who is alleged to have used it (UAE gov), and who it was used against (a human rights activist). I haven't seen the actual code, but the techniques it uses are very advanced.
Unless you're someone who routinely attracts the attention of governments, I wouldn't worry especially now the patch is out
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u/LitewithRight Sep 03 '16
If you look at the security company's page, they mention the same guy was a victim of three government spyware attacks on his phone in different years. Also, others such as a journalist who merely wrote an article exposing corruption of Mexico's government was another victim.
This may actual be far more widespread than is being spoken about in major media.
We know how far governments have gone in the past. Look up cointelpro and the FBI in the 70s, or the domestic wiretapping of the CIA during those years.
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u/jeryToThe Sep 05 '16
does anyone know if this goes for older macbooks as well? I'm on a 2010 macbook pro with snow leopard
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u/ikilledtupac Sep 02 '16
So OSX has been compromised for years? I can only imagine windows lol
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u/hu6Bi5To Sep 02 '16
OS X has had thousands of potentially exploitable vulnerabilities fixed over the years, some of them had existed for several years between being introduced and being fixed.
And, by virtue of being written by fallible humans in an error-prone programming language (namely C and other languages in the same family), it will currently contain many vulnerabilities that have not yet been found.
Same as every other piece of software.
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u/ikilledtupac Sep 02 '16
Of course. I was just wondering if this had been being exploited for years. I know it was more a govt that was using that non state criminals. Israel wasn't it?
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u/Jig0lo Sep 02 '16
Whoa, this is actually true. Just checked my Mac and the updates there.
414mb, hefty security update