Tag Archives: iPhone

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

People Using Mobile Data Instead Of Internet Service Providers

The ongoing pandemic has impacted daily life in the United States in a number of ways, some predictable and others surprising.

On the predictable side, when tens of thousands of employees were asked to work from home, broadband internet connectivity saw a huge surge in use and nearly 80 percent of broadband users upgraded their service to get better speeds.

Unfortunately, the increased demand put a tremendous strain on the broadband providers, many of whom are still, to this day, struggling to respond. As a result, there has been a growing migration away from broadband service, as more than 12 million former broadband customers have canceled their service. They’re opting instead to turn their cellphones into WiFi hotspots and make use of their Cellular data plan.

While that is an effective solution for some, there are a few potential pitfalls to be mindful of. For starters, while high speed connectivity is certainly possible, most cell plans have much tighter data limits than broadband providers do, and if you stream video on a regular basis, you’re likely to run into those caps very quickly if you adopt this strategy.

Closely related to this issue is the fact that while it is possible to upgrade your cellular data plan, it’s usually much more expensive than upgrading your broadband plan.

In addition to that, the issue may not be with your provider, or at least not solely with your provider. If you haven’t yet upgraded your home network to one of the popular mesh network systems, then doing so could see an overall boost in speed, depending on the particulars of your home network and how you use it.

According to research conducted by Parks Associates, more than half of all broadband customers are currently reporting problems of one sort or another with their service. The most common of which is the monthly cost, but other top contenders include slow service speeds, unreliability, poor customer service, and other technical and billing-related issues.

On the other hand, with a growing number of people leaving the broadband ecosystem, this may wind up being a self-correcting problem. If you decide to tough it out, you may find that performance improves over time. Either way, it is an interesting and unexpected development that’s worth watching.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Mobile App Vulnerabilities Found To Leave Data Unsecured

Most apps these days make use of cloud storage in order to minimize their footprint on your device. That’s good in theory, but based on new research from Zimperium, a disappointing percentage of app developers don’t do nearly enough to secure the data they’re housing for you. In fact, the recent study indicated that fully 14 percent of iOS and Android apps that use cloud storage had insecure configurations or were otherwise vulnerable to attacks by third parties.

Naturally, depending on the exact nature of the apps you use, the nature of the data that’s stored within them will vary markedly. Thus, hackers who breach those unsecured cloud storage systems may wind up with little more than your email address and your latest high score on whatever game you’re obsessed with at the moment, or they could wind up with sensitive financial and/or health-related data.

It should be noted though, that even relatively innocent apps like games (that don’t keep much in the way of personal information) often ask for and receive a wide range of intrusive permissions on your device. That means the developers of those apps could be harvesting a lot of more sensitive data you weren’t even aware of.

The study puts the exclamation point on the end of two very important points that are well worth remembering. One, it pays to read every app’s terms of service agreement closely and monitor exactly what permissions every app you install is asking for, and selectively denying that permission if you deem it to be a bit too intrusive for your comfort.

Second, it’s well worth taking a bit of extra time to uninstall any app that you lose interest in and stop using. By keeping it on your device just in case you decide to circle back to it later, you’re increasing your exposure and increasing your risk.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Latest Apple Update Fixes Web Security Flaw On Most Devices

Recently, two different security researchers (Clement Lecigne of Google’s Threat Analysis Group, and Alison Huffman from Microsoft’s Browser Vulnerability Research Group) discovered a pair of serious security vulnerability impacting Apple devices.

The bugs, tracked as CVE-2021-1844 and CVE-2021-21166 respectively, are browser-based memory issues that could have allowed remote code execution if the victim navigated or was directed to a website embedded with malicious code.

Apple moved quickly and issued a patch for the first, and the second was actually an issue in Google Chrome for Apple users, patched with the release of Chrome 89. Apple’s iOS updates are available for the iPhone 6 and later, the iPad Air 2 and later, the iPad mini 4 and later, and the iPod touch (7th Generation). The Apple releases you want are: macOS Big Sur 11.2.3, iOS 14.4.1, and iPad OS 14.4.1, depending on the type of device you have.

iOS 14.4.1 is the version containing the bugfix, and although there’s no evidence of either bug being used in the wild, it’s just a matter of time before that happens. So if you haven’t already updated to that version of iOS, you’ll want to make doing so a priority. Note too that the update is 138MB and is quite significant. It contains a number of small enhancements, in addition to the bug fix itself.

Kudos to Apple, Google, and Microsoft for their keen eyes and rapid responses in this case. These issues, and their accompanying security patches certainly won’t be the last such issues we see this year. In this case though, the responses of all three companies were exemplary and should serve as an example to everyone.

In any case, if you have already updated as described above, there’s nothing else for you to do. If you haven’t yet, do so at your next opportunity, and you’ll have one less thing to worry about.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

With New Update iPhone Adds iMessage Security Feature

Do you have a favorite app you use for chatting or for keeping in touch with family and friends?

Most people have a go-to app that serves as their first choice, and many have a small constellation of apps they use, having 1-2 for family and another app or two for business contacts.

Unfortunately, given the popularity of messaging and the ubiquity of messaging apps, they also serve as incredibly tempting targets for hackers around the world and stand as one of the easiest points of entry.

All of the companies that make messaging apps have taken different approaches to enhancing security, but few have done more than Apple. With the release of iOS 14, the company has really upped the messaging security game with the addition of a new feature called BlastDoor.

Conceptually, it works a lot like the Blast Door Tony Stark installed and made use of in the Avengers Endgame movie when he activates the “Armed Door” protocol. Essentially, the feature seeks to put a digital shield around message streams so that they’re virtually impossible to break into from the outside. Conversely, if a hacker has somehow gotten into the stream, he can’t detonate some kind of “bomb” on your system that will get past the blast door.

Of course, that all sounds very good in theory. Then again, Sony’s billion dollar DVD copy protection sounded great too until a hacker defeated it with a Sharpie, so unfortunately, field testing is the only way to know exactly how effective the new protection will be. At this point, the feature is so new that nobody has had time to test its capabilities extensively, though that process is ongoing.

If it lives up to even a portion of its hype though, and if the sandbox on the other side of the blast door is capable of preventing all but the most determined attacks, you can bet that other companies will be quick to adopt a similar approach. Kudos to Apple and we look forward to testing Blast Door’s capabilities in the weeks ahead!

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Update iOS For Security Fixes, New Features, And Bug Fixes

If you own an Apple phone or tablet, you’re definitely going to want to make upgrading to the latest version of iOS a priority.

While it is not as significant as version 14.3 was, the new release of version 14.4, comes with a number of enhancements you’re almost certain to love.

Here’s a quick look at what you can expect:

Bug Fixes

These are always front and center in any new release, and in this case, the new release fixes a trio of critical security issues, all relating to Safari’s WebKit engine. Essentially, prior to being patched, these bugs could have allowed a hacker to take control of your device if you surfed your way onto a poisoned web page. That’s no longer an issue, post update.

Improved Bluetooth Handling

The biggest non bug fix item to talk about is a new setting you’ll find on your phone that allows you to designate the types of audio devices you connect to your phone via Bluetooth. Among other things, this allows the OS to monitor the volume levels of your headphones so you don’t wind up listening to something at levels that could damage your hearing in the long run.

Changes To The Camera App

There are two things worth mentioning on this front. First, changes to the camera app make it better at recognizing smaller QR codes, which is something Apple’s camera has long struggled with.

Second, the camera app now comes with a warning if the camera components on your iPhone 12 have been replaced with non-Apple components. A small point, but a potentially important one.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that if you own an Apple SmartWatch, in tandem with the new iOS release, watchOS 7.3 is also out. It introduces a new “Time to Walk” feature on the Fitness+ app and a Unity Watch Face, among other general tweaks, improvements and enhancements. All that to say, these are solid updates, and well worth making a priority.

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