Month: September 2016

Yahoo: 500 Million Accounts Stolen in Major Data Breech

Dan Uff September 22, 2016 0

Mid Thursday, Yahoo! confirmed that about 500 million user accounts have been stolen from its network in what maybe the largest data breech ever.

(CNN/Money) The company said it believes a "state-sponsored actor" was behind the data breach, meaning an individual acting on behalf of a government. The breach is said to have occurred in late 2014.

"The account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (the vast majority with bcrypt) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers," Yahoo said in a statement.

Yahoo urges users to change their password and security questions and to review their accounts for suspicious activity.

A large-scale data breach was first rumored in August when a hacker who goes by the name of "Peace" claimed to be selling data from 200 million Yahoo users online. The same hacker has previously claimed to sell stolen accounts from LinkedIn and MySpace.

Yahoo originally said it was "aware of a claim" and was investigating the situation. Nearly two months later, it turns out the situation is even worse.

Re/code first reported Yahoo would confirm the data breach.

The data breach comes at a sensitive time for Yahoo.

Verizon agreed to buy Yahoo's core properties for $4.83 billion in late July, just days before the hack was first reported. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.

The mega-breach could create a headache for both companies, including damaging press, scrutiny from regulators and a user exodus, just as they're working to close the deal and figure out the future of Yahoo.

CNNMoney (New York) First published September 22, 2016: 10:38 AM ET

Apple opens iPhone Reservation Web Site

Dan Uff September 22, 2016 0

Apple has opened an iPhone 7 / iPhone 7 Plus reservation web site for customers to reserve an iPhone for pick up at the nearest Apple Store.

The web site asks for the nearest Apple Store closest to your location, and then the type/carrier that you wish to have. The web site is in response to some customer's complaints about not knowing if an iPhone is available at a local Apple Store.

For more information, click here.

How to create a bootable MacOS Sierra USB Drive

Dan Uff September 22, 2016 1

While it is true that Apple has a way to restore your Mac via the Internet, sometimes you don't want to do that for one reason or another.

Their is a way to create a MacOS Sierra bootable USB Drive for local installations. I'll go step by step for those of you who have never made such a boot disk.

You'll need a USB Drive with at least 10 Gigabytes of storage.
Download the Sierra set-up program. Here is the direct link for it.
Open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility).
Insert the USB Drive into a USB Port.
Format the USB drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), using the GUID Partition Mac scheme, and name it macOSSierra. This can be done from the Erase tab within the app; make sure that there are no multiple partitions (turn to the Partition tab to verify and correct this).
Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal).
At the prompt, (please feel free to copy and paste the below command)
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/macOSSierra --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app --nointeraction.
Type in a password to begin the installation process.

Because this is considered a quick install the process will not show you a process bar. This will usually take anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes depending on the speed of your USB port, the USB drive, and your computer.

It is recommended that you make a bootable USB Drive for quick recovery of your computer.

Man’s Front Door Exposes a problem that Apple needs to fix, NOW

Dan Uff September 21, 2016 0

“A month ago, Marcus, a 31-year-old man living in Springfield, Missouri, decided to go all in on the smart home. A diehard fan of the Apple AAPL -0.27% ecosystem, he began outfitting his house with gadgets certified as ‘Works with Apple HomeKit,’ Apple’s proprietary communication standard for controlling third-party smart home devices with iOS and its intelligent voice assistant, Siri,” Aaron Tilley reports for Forbes. “At first, everything worked flawlessly. His front door would automatically unlock as he walked up to his house when his phone got within a certain distance. The lights would brighten gradually after he woke up. ‘I work long, 10-hour days,’ said Marcus, who asked that his full name not be used, in an phone interview on Monday. ‘Having things automated lets me sleep better. For the month I’ve been using this stuff, I love it.'”

“But there was one big problem lurking below the surface of his Jetsonian setup. Marcus had placed an iPad Pro in his living room to serve as a central, voice-controlled hub for his smart home,” Tilley reports. “He used it basically as an Apple version of the Amazon Echo, a tube-shaped smart speaker that’s powered by Amazon’s intelligent voice assistant, Alexa. Without pressing a button, he could say things like, ‘Hey Siri, dim the lights,’ and the lights around him would dim. By placing the iPad in the living room, he could control the August Smart Lock too over a Bluetooth connection. He was so jazzed by his setup that he invited over his neighbor, Mike, to check it out.”

“Last Friday morning, as Marcus was pulling out of the driveway, Mike walked up with a grin asking if he could borrow some flour. Marcus responded sure and started to get out of the car to let him in,” Tilley reports. “But before Marcus could do anything, his neighbor said, ‘I’ll let myself in,’ and ran over to the front door. He then shouted, ‘Hey Siri, unlock the front door.’ The door unlocked.”

Read more in the full article here.