Apple Updates - Everything? May 3-2021

 Updates from Apple today 3-May-2021.

iOS 14.5.1   iPadOS 14.5.1  MacOS 11.3.1 (Big Sur), and watchOS 7.4.1

Older iPhones need to update to iOS 12.5.3

Yeah, just had an update, this is another one.

BUT this one is important! 

macOS 11.3 available massive security patching

  Along with iOS 14.5 Apple released macOS 11.3 yesterday. 

Feature improvements, yes 

BUT massive security improvements and patching for vulnerabilities being exploited now. So now is the time to perform the update.

 The security patches are available yesterday 26-Apr-2021 for some older macOS releases (Catalina and Mojave) as well. Indicates the IMPORTANCE of the patches for security.

Also macOS Big Sur adds some of the iOS 14.5 feature adds: FindMy for AirTags, new emojis, added new Siri voices, 

Andriod WARNING FluBot

 

Garmin BE CAREFUL

  Garmins are nice. Driving directions. Voice commands. Shows speed and speed limits. Nice

 Not so nice. Reports of theft from locked and unlocked vehicles in residence driveways.

 Another feature of most Garmins and similar devices. They record video if they are so equipped. They also record audio. In the vehicle.

 So if you are in an accident you may have video proof of who might be at fault. You have a video capture of those once-in-a-lifetime events caught while on trips.

 A caution. If the people who have had their vehicle broken into and items stolen. Consider the Garmin's video card was replaced. Now the thief has hours and hours of your in vehicle conversation. Think mobile banking on your smart phone - hands free. We usually have an expectation of privacy and temporary life of our in vehicle conversations. A few financial institutions now allow voice recognition for added security. YOUR voice. That voice confirmation recorded with YOUR voice available for replay.

If we are also unaware those conversations are now stolen......

Very Large trove of Facebook Account data available today 3-April-2021

  Reports of a large collection of Facebook user accounts to include the user's full name, phone numbers, birthdates, bios, eMail addresses.

 Armed with this detailed information attackers can use the data to attack the user and/or take over the Facebook account holder's IDentity.

 Be very careful with explicit and implicit trust. Add this breach to the SolarWinds, the Microsoft Exchange server vulnerability and attacks, and all other manner of breaches of trust, ransomware, and cyber attacks - we all need to ratchet up our awareness, preparedness, and understanding.

 I will add to this post as more detail becomes available.

 Current counts of the stolen accounts: 533,000,000.

 Several billion people use the Internet with its trust models every day. BUT, those who are attacked have a much more difficult life afterwards. They are not after you, They are after anybody

iOS 14.4.2 Update released 26-Mar-2021

  Very few details, save this one: Update ASAP

includes iPadOS 14.4.2 and watchOS 7.3.3 and macOS 11.2.3

AND iOS 12.5.2 for the older iPhones and iPads.

That's how serious!

Android spyware masquerades as System Update

  WARNING: Be so very careful when loading apps outside of the Google Play Store.

 Especially updates. Even more so for System Updates.

 A surge in spyware masquerading as System Update has been detected.

 Once installed the remote attacker can take complete control of the Android device. The spyware can then read and send messages, steal contact lists, record calls, access the camera, and more.

 This spyware app is the most sophisticated seen in recent increases in Android spyware.