German Researcher Gives Apple Details of Mojave Keychain Flaw, Despite no Bug Bounty

LONDON – Security researcher Linus Henze handed over all the detail of a macOS Keychain bug he discovered, AppleInsider reported. This is despite not receiving any money from Apple. The company does not have a bug bounty program. Mr. Henze had previously withheld the information. He wanted Apple to start offering a bug bounty for security flaws researchers bring them. He discovered an exploit which allowed apps to see passwords held in the macOS Mojave keychain.

German teenager Linus Henze has sent Apple full details of a Keychain security exploit that he demonstrated in early February, and has done so despite the company ignoring his previous conditions. Henze says that he has decided to reveal the details to Apple because the bug he’s found “is very critical and because the security of macOS users is important to me.”

Apple and Content, Marzipan, and the Executive Shuffle, with Charlotte Henry - ACM 502

Where is Apple going with its content drive? Bryan Chaffin is joined by guest-host Charlotte Henry to dive deep into original shows, services, publishing, news, and Apple’s other content ambitions. They also talk about the promise (and potential drawbacks) of Marzipan, and what Apple’s recent executive shuffling might portend.

Universal Apps Could Include macOS

An issue I see with this is pricing. People are used to cheap iOS apps, but if you applied the same pricing to macOS apps, that would be bad for developers. Would the price of universal apps fall somewhere in the middle? Or would everything be a subscription? Apple clearly wants the latter, but no one wants a bunch of subscriptions either.

By 2021, developers will be able to merge iPhone, iPad, and Mac applications into one app or what is known as a “single binary.” This means developers won’t have to submit their work to different Apple App Stores, allowing iOS apps to be downloaded directly from Mac computers — effectively combining the stores.

Public macOS Mojave 10.14.4 Beta 3 Is Out

The third public beta of macOS Mojave 10.14.4 is out two weeks after the second beta to developers.

The macOS Mojave update can be downloaded using the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store after downloading the appropriate profile from Apple’s beta testing website. Apple’s beta testing site gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas.

macOS Mojave 10.14.4 will bring Apple News in Canada, Touch ID Safari Autofill, and automatic Dark Mode in Safari.

Security Researcher Won't Share macOS Keychain Bug

Security researcher Linuz Henze found a macOS Keychain bug but won’t share it with Apple out of protest.

Henze has publicly shared legitimate iOS vulnerabilities in the past, so he has a track record of credibility. However, Henze is frustrated that Apple’s bug bounty program only applies to iOS, not macOS, and has decided not to release more information about his latest Keychain invasion.

It is odd that there isn’t a macOS bug bounty but I think withholding security information isn’t the way to go.

What Works in macOS Mojave. What Doesn't

Other World Computing publishes a fantastic blog for customers called Rocket Yard.  Here’s a link to one from December by Tom Nelson that covers what works in macOS Mojave and what still does not. It’s full of technical insights and screenshots.  It is current as of version 10.14.2.

AMD Radeon Navi GPU Support Coming to macOS

AMD Radeon Navi GPU support is coming to macOS. Code for four graphics cards is present, referring to Navi 9, Navi 10, Navi 12, and Navi 16.

The new device ID is 0x73101002. We need to keep our eyes on this kext development for more news and support as its getting close to the “Navi-dad”. we saw similar code in Sierra prior to the Vega release. Navi in 6 months?

Feliz navidad everyone!

A List of macOS Touch Bar Apps

The Touch Bar on recent Macs doesn’t seem to get a lot of love, but David Nield writes about macOS Touch Bar apps that do make use of it.

We’re only going to limit ourselves to mentioning one Apple app in the list, but dig around, and you’ll find that pretty much every native macOS program includes some Touch Bar shortcuts you might find useful.

Personally I’m of the opinion that the feature is gimmicky and doesn’t add much functionality to Macs.