We’re going a day early this week because Friday might be too late. The holiday shopping season kicks off in earnest this Friday. We’re looking at tips for safe shopping both online and in lines this holiday season. Plus - a look back at nine years of this show. It’s all ahead on Checklist No. 451, brought to you by SecureMac.
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It is that time of year. Time to reflect… to look back… to realize how little we’ve learned, and shake our heads in sadness. 123456 is still the most used password according to a new study - and people still think that Taylor Swift is trying to sell them stuff on social media. We’re looking at weak passwords and deepfake celebrities for 2025 on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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Apple’s brought back an old safety feature. We’ll look at Background Security Improvements, what happened to the thing it replaced, and who should have it turned on. Plus - reasons to avoid shopping on Meta platforms on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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We’re looking at a child safety feature and the over 400 security fixes in this week’s 26.1 OS updates from Apple. Plus - Texas is exerting control over smartphone parental controls. We’ll talk about Apple and the Texas App Store Accountability Act on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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It’s Halloween! There’s a guy with an axe who wants to get into your iPhone! We’ll talk about keeping him out. Plus - ghosts may not be real, but ghost accounts are. We’ll tell you how to be a ghost account buster on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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Meta’s WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are taking proactive steps to warn users of scammers on those services. We’ll tell you more. Plus - Scouting America has new merit badges for A.I. and cybersecurity. We’ll talk about those on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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Apple is increasing bug bounties for good guys, in theory. We’ll talk about how much white hats might be able to get outta Cupertino. First though, Japan’s beer bungle was a ransomware attack. An update on that and the changing state of cyberattacks on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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A bit of a boo-hiss story about a medical imaging group losing personally identifiable information on tens of thousands of patients. That’s not the boo-hiss part. We’ll tell you what is. First though - the FBI says someone’s impersonating the FBI. And you know it’s true because… it came from the FBI? Good advice from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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We’re doing the ransomware thing again - checking on the folks at Jaguar Land Rover, plus what may be a ransomware attack at Japanese brewery Asahi. Then - why isn’t the anti-phishing training at your work working? UC San Diego has some thoughts. All of that plus tiny updates from Apple on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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Whether trying to hit the road or soar through the skies - ransomware is providing speed bumps and delays. We’ll talk about a couple of huge ongoing ransomware attacks. Plus - how does ransomware happen, and how are organizations dealing? Believe it or not there’s some survey data that’s kind of encouraging. We’ll hit that on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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We’re highlighting privacy and security features in macOS Tahoe 26 this week, including changes for consumers and changes for developers. Plus - tons of security fixes across a range of Apple operating systems on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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Longterm and short-term security work from Apple on this week’s Checklist. First, the company’s warning individuals in France of potential spyware attacks. We’ll look at what they’re looking for and advice for staying safe. Plus - the iPhones Apple announced this week are bringing a new memory safety feature. We'll familiarize ourselves with Memory Integrity Enforcement on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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You’ve heard of single extortion and double extortion ransomware attacks - but the number goes higher. Do you know how high? You will after this week’s show. Plus - checking in on the state of the State of Nevada - because we just can’t help ourselves! It’s all ahead on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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What do the city of St. Paul and the state of Nevada have in common? Both have fallen victim to ransomware attacks. Of course - states are bigger than cities and the Silver State's headaches seem much bigger than St. Paul’s. We’ll look at what’s happened, what’s affected, and how things are now on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.
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LLMs are great at answering questions - even if they don’t know the answers. Throw in bad guys forcing in the wrong answers, and you’ve got a new front in the scammer wars. We’ll talk prompt injection attacks today plus this week’s security updates from Apple on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.
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It’s week three of the Saint Paul cyberattack. There’s a known culprit now, and an operation underway to secure the city’s information infrastructure. All of that plus mitigation tips everyone can use on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.
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Apple’s making a very slight change to the Wi-Fi picker in iOS and iPadOS 26 that should make it easier to spot secure versus open wi-fi networks. We’ll look into it. First though, we’ll check in on the Saint Paul cyberattack, as well as the other cyberattack in the other Saint Paul. It’s all ahead on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.
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Last week, we talked about moves Apple’s making to fight smishing. Now some political types are fighting against that fight. We’ll tell you more. Plus - Apple updated all of its current operating systems earlier this week. We’ll fill you in. We start though in Saint Paul, Minnesota - a city under cyberattack. It’s all ahead on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.
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It wasn’t just a bad password that brought down a 158-year-old company, but the password didn’t help. We’ll talk about the fate of a British trucking concern and the lessons we can learn from it. Plus - Apple’s got tools to fight smishing coming in the OS 26 updates. We’ll familiarize ourselves with those on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.
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The FBI has issued a warning - phishing with a medical theme is on the rise. The problem is healthcare providers keep losing client info and sending out warnings. What is a patient to do? We’ll talk it over on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.
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We’re looking today at how a fake McDonald’s led security researchers to real sensitive info on 64 million real people. It’s a lesson on how NOT to do it. Then, is it smart to buy smart devices? As Belkin prepares to kill support for most of its Wemo line, we’ll revisit the topic. That’s all on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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Headphones that listen to you? Modern listening devices are a two-way street and bad guys are driving the wrong way on it. We’ll tell you how to stop them. Also, a security bother with Brother printers - one they cannot fix. We’ll tell you how to protect against it. And AT&T has a new security protection and some great messaging for its customers. We’ll check into that on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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Making your voice heard in public is a First Amendment right here in the US. We’ll talk about doing so safely in the age of surveillance. Plus - just because the App Store is safe doesn’t mean every app is trustworthy. We’ll look at the difference on this edition of The on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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This week on The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac - Using two-factor authentication is a great idea. Using SMS for 2FA is about the worst way to do it. We’ll tell you why. Plus - plot twist for 23andMe. You may think you know the latest, but do you? Listen in and find out on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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If you want to know what’s going on in the world, do not ask A.I. chatbots. We’ll tell you why. Plus - while WWDC didn’t go huge on privacy and security, it did bring some tweaks to Parental Controls and child accounts. We’ll look into those on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.
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