The Checklist by SecureMac

We are looking at the recent Change Healthcare hack that may have exposed info on half of the people in the U.S. HALF! Then - an iPhone scam that is notable for its simplicity and brazenness. Don?t try THAT at home. Try Checklist No. 373, brought to you by SecureMac!

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Over half-a-million Roku accounts were compromised recently. We?ll look at what?s being done, and ways to keep your accounts safe. Plus - talk of a scary iPhone exploit that probably doesn?t exits. That?s all on Checklist No. 372, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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More news of AI tools and shenanigans powered by AI tools. It is an election year, after all. Also - Apple?s let people in 92 countries know that somebody?s trying to take over their iPhones. It is an election year, after all. We?ll tell you more on Checklist No. 371, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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After months of romance scams and AI worries - there is something refreshing about a simple data breach story. Not comforting, just understandable. 

Somehow sensitive info on over 70-million past and current customers of AT&T has ended up floating around the internet - for maybe as many as six years.

What do we know? And what can you do? Find out on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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It?s tax season and, unlike the Valentine?s Day shows, we thought we?d do this year?s tax show before taxes are due. On today?s episode, several tax scams of which the IRS wants you to beware. Plus - have you heard about the phony password reset requests hitting Apple device owners? We?ll hit it all on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.

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Remember those organized crime driven romance scams we talked about last week? The organized crime part is no joke - we?ll tell you more. Plus a story that shows ANYONE could fall victim to a romance scam, and the bugs abounding in the latest macOS Sonoma update. That?s all on Checklist No. 368 - brought to you by SecureMac.

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The world of online dating has scammers using A.I. to steal your heart - so they can steal your money and personal info. We?ll talk about ways to avoid those scams. Think a digital dalliance with a chatbot is safer? The Mozilla Foundation disagrees. We?ll tell you why on Checklist No. 367 - brought to you by SecureMac.

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A look at the security side of Apple?s latest OS updates, inexpensive and insecure video doorbells, and the security dangers of being THAT guy: That?s all on Checklist No. 366 - brought to you by SecureMac.

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Apple is taking a stand against detecting CSAM in the cloud. Yes - that Apple. We?ll tell you their argument. Plus - Apple fights bad guys from the future, and the tale of a seriously creepy, privacy invading candy machine. That?s all on Checklist No. 365 - brought to you by SecureMac.

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We are experiencing technical difficulties - like? the planet is. It?s not AI run amok yet. More - people running amok with AI. Good news though - parties somewhat responsible for the mess are making noise about mitigation. We?ll tell you more. Plus - do you live on the most cyber-attacked part of the world? We?ll tell you where that is on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.

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On this edition of The Checklist, we?re following up on the real call from a fake President Biden to voters in New Hampshire. First though - while a DDoS attack from a toothbrush powered botnet did not actually happen, there?s still al lot to learn from it. We?ll tackle that on Checklist No. 363, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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On Checklist No. 362:

We?ll hit all of that on this edition of The Checklist? brought to you by SecureMac.

On this week?s episode: 

That?s all on Checklist No. 361, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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On this week?s episode: 

That?s all on Checklist No. 360, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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2024 is an election year - in the U.S. and around the world. Some say it will also be the first A.I. election. We?ll look at concerns around A.I.-generated misinformation and ways to avoid falling victim on Checklist No. 359, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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On this New Year?s edition of The Checklist by SecureMac:

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An 11 year-old wreaks havoc, a game that is not worth playing, and putting a blind guy behind the wheel - Voices of Checklists passed tell us about their favorite hacker movies, including Hackers, WarGames, Sneakers, and Superman III. What did they get right? What did they get wrong? And what can we learn from them? Snuggle up for The Hacky Holidays Special - brought to you by SecureMac.

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Apple dropped a slew of OS updates this week - nearly all of which came with security tweaks and fixes. We?ll take a look at some of those. Then - there?s a big set of security protections planned for a near future update. We?ll look at that as well on Checklist No. 356, brought to you by SecureMac.

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A bad story gets worse - We?ll talk about the growing number of victims in the 23andMe breach. First though - an interesting story about what might happen when one goes into Lockdown Mode late. That?s all on Checklist No. 355, brought to you by SecureMac.

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It?s the holiday season, and The Checklist by SecureMac wants to make sure you?re shopping safely - online and in physical stores. Beware the Grinch Bots and Juggers! And find out what those things are on Checklist No. 354, brought to you by SecureMac.

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As you gather with friends and family this holiday season, consider letting them know about the safety, security, and ease of use of passkeys. Allison Sheridan, host of NosillaCast Podcast - online at Podfeet.com, has written an email to friends and family about putting passkeys to work. We?ll talk about that - plus a list of holiday shopping Checklist episodes to check out on Checklist No. 353 - brought to you by SecureMac. 

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On Checklist No. 352 by SecureMac - Why the ?A? in A.I. is for both "artificial" and "anxious," some A.I. news that might make you more anxious, and safety measures you can employ to help allay that anxiety.

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Revisiting a few past stories this week, including:

- A look at knock-off AirPods

- A possible Pegasus sighting in Armenia

- Genealogy sites start requiring 2FA

That?s all on Checklist No. 351, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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- Apple moves to fight iMessage eavesdroppers

- An apparent spying operation in India

- Famous people used as phishing lures

That?s all on Checklist No. 350, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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Checklist 349 - iPhone Scams, Passkeys, and OS Updates

That?s all on Checklist No. 349, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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- Catching Up on the 23andMe Hack

- Avoiding Social Media Scams with the FTC

- California Passes the Delete Act

That?s all on Checklist No. 348, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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Apple and Google are pushing us toward a passkey future. We'll talk about how and why. Plus - why do people KEEP falling for scams? We'll look at a few reasons on Checklist No. 347, brought to you by SecureMac. 

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It's National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. This week, we?ll pay a visit to the good folks at CISA.gov for a list of tips to keep businesses safe and a list to keep individuals safe. Tell a friend! It?s Checklist No. 346, brought to you by SecureMac.

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This week - we?ll look at privacy and security features built into macOS Sonoma as well as some small but mighty important updates for all Apple hardware. Plus - stopping unsavory and unsolicited pics in messaging apps. That?s all on Checklist No. 345, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Privacy and security features in iOS 17! News on some recent Pegasus targets! Getting cyber-ready for the big game! That?s all on Checklist No. 344, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Pegasus is still flying, and Apple is still trying to bring it down. We?ll catch up with the latest on NSO Group?s spyware. Plus - Privacy and security aspects of Apple?s latest iPhone and Apple Watch event on Checklist No. 343, brought to you by SecureMac.

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BlackBerry has bad news about cyberattacks on three key sectors. We will focus on one - healthcare, what some people are doing to protect that sector, and what we can do to protect ourselves on Checklist No. 342, brought to you by SecureMac.

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The Feds recently seized $400K in counterfeit Apple kit. We?ll talk about avoiding the fakes, and what to do if you think your headphones are phony. Plus - Student loan payments are restarting soon. We?ll talk about some of the scams growing around their return  on Checklist No. 341 - brought to you by SecureMac.

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On Checklist No. 340 by SecureMac - A look at a seemingly serious phishing campaign that hinges on malicious QR codes. Plus, the UK plans the impossible - a backdoor in encryption that only work for good guys. That folly plus Apple?s take on this edition of The Checklist.

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What do a new issue for Intel-based Macs, confusion around Bluetooth on iOS, and ATM skimmers and scammers have in common? They can all be thwarted by common sense security steps. We?ll talk about all of it on Checklist No. 339, brought to you by SecureMac.

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On Checklist 338 - Exploits targeting macOS are on the rise on the dark web. We?ll check that, plus stealing keystrokes via sound and new API rules for Apple developers on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.

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On Checklist 337 - We?ll look at scammy online ads, the dangers they pose, and how to avoid them. First though - Like ?juice jacking? on steroids, EV Chargers pose a potentially huge security risk. We?ll look at why, what can be done, and by whom on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.

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You?ve heard of Apple's Rapid Security Response - but how much do you know about it? We?ll examine it through the lens of this week?s two RSR releases. Plus - one school?s password reset fail. That?s all on Checklist No. 336 brought to you by SecureMac.

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In the movies, bad guys are often taken down by a tech vulnerability. This week, we revisit our look at how best practices could make bad guys better at being bad. 

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Summer?s here and bad guys are on phishing trips. We?ll talk about some seasonal scams making the rounds, plus common text scams and how to avoid them on Checklist No. 334 brought to you by SecureMac.

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Apple released a lot of small but mighty updates on Wednesday - patching vulnerabilities on devices new and old? we?ll go over what was released and what got fixed. First though - the password is dying: Long live the passkey. We?ll work to make sense of those on Checklist No. 333 brought to you by SecureMac.

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Fighting A.I. hazards, improving app privacy labels, and another safeguard for Apple Vision Pro - We'll hit more privacy and security news from WWDC23 on Checklist No. 332 brought to you by SecureMac.

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WWDC23 is (or was) this week. While the last one seemed short on privacy and security talk, such talk runs deep this year. We?ll look at safety features coming to iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma, and the operating system for Apple?s new mixed-reality headset on Checklist No. 331, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Microsoft has found a Ventura vulnerability. We?ll tell you what it is and what to do about it. Bad guys have found a decidedly low-tech way through CAPTCHA, and Apple?s Pegasus spotting is spot-on. We?ll hit it all on Checklist No. 330, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Motherboard has run a proof-of-concept exercise using a cloned A.I. to break into a bank account. We?ll tell you what the U.S. Senate wants to know, and how you can protect your account from such attacks. Plus a look at the security fixes in last week?s OS updates from Apple  on Checklist No. 329, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Scammers are targeting everybody, though the elderly are among the most vulnerable. We?ll look at ways to help protect them. Plus - have you told ChatGPT stuff you wish you hadn?t? We?ll tell you how to take it all back on Checklist No. 328, brought to you by SecureMac.

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ZDNet has shared eight tips for working securely away from the office. We?ll share those with you. First though - A.I. Voice Scams are on the rise. We?ll talk about what they are and how to avoid them on Checklist No. 327, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Suddenly juice jacking doesn?t exist? We?ll talk about that argument and what you can do to fight it (whether it?s real or not). Plus - AirTag gets a vote of confidence, a word of warning, and a coalition. We?ll hit it all on Checklist No. 326, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Extortion fraud emails are on the rise, your HomePod has picked up a safety feature, and there?s a more prevalent computing threat than juice jacking. We?ll hit it all on Checklist 325 brought to you by SecureMac.

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The FBI warns against ?juice jacking,? an A.I. story where YOU are the threat, and small updates from Apple with big, important fixes. It?s all on Checklist No. 324 brought to you by SecureMac.

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