Are you prepared for a Mac Attack?
On Monday of this week a cyber-security company discovered holes in the normal impervious walls of Apples IPhone. After an update that was supposed to fix some encryption problems, it was found that a surveillance app could be run which captures each “tap” on the phones touch screen. This could record passwords, contents of messages and even credit card numbers. The error comes from an errant line of code that disabled digital certificates to require authentication. It was an embarrassing admission for Apple who promised to respond quickly to the issue. This comes after the scare with the flaw in a Java script which could allow computers to be hijacked by a third party.
Apple users have always been proud of the fact that it was rare for any of their devices to be susceptible to virus attacks. Macs were seen as a rare breed, so hackers would concentrate on the more porous windows machines. Now that macs have increased in popularity hackers now see it as a prize to break into such a closed system. They believe there up to 12 teams around the world working on breaking the codes, then selling the assets to criminal gangs.
It is advised that users should hold back from automatically updating their devices until the issue has been fully tested and given the all clear.
Malcolm Ford has worked for over 5 years selling enterprise software solutions to SME business’s and advises sales teams on using CRM systems.
