The macOS 11 Big Sur operating system created a lot of ripples in the Apple world immediately after being announced at the latest WWDC event held in June. This is arguably the most tangible overhaul of macOS look and feel in recent years. It features, among other things, a redesigned Dock, an all-new Notification Center, a more streamlined Maps app, and window curvature that feels so different.

App notarization is Apple’s software auditing technique focused on extensively vetting code before it ends up in the Gatekeeper whitelist. Adopted earlier this year, it requires developers to submit their apps for in-depth automated inspection aiming to look for signs of malicious behavior. If a piece of software passes these checks, it can be executed...

Online videos are the best thing since sliced bread, no doubt. Paid content of that kind hosted by reputable platforms is typically safe to watch, but users could be at risk when opting for services that don’t require registration. There has to be a monetization element either way. Some providers live off ads, as is the case with the 123movies.domains.

The white hats – Sam Curry, Ben Sadeghipour, Brett Buerhaus, Samuel Erb, and Tanner Barnes – teamed up in early July 2020 to check Apple’s electronic infrastructure for weak links. The collaboration turned out fruitful as the five enthusiasts pinpointed 55 vulnerabilities in different areas of Apple’s digital “household” over a three-month period.

Hassle-free web browsing becomes a misnomer when intrusive pop-ups kick in. The root causes for this kind of a drag can range from site misconfigurations and aggressive advertising to social engineering and malware activity. The cdn.districtm.io certificate alerts shown on arbitrary sites appear to fit the mold of a glitch, but it could be difficult to tell this issue from skillfully cloaked malvertising.

The troublemaking update, flagged as 2020-005, went live on September 24, 2020. Shortly after the release, it became obvious that something went wrong with it. Numerous macOS Mojave users noticed their computers slow down to a crawl. This nuisance would be combined with memory bugs, long boot time, and unusually high fan speeds.