Apple Security News - the Universe Darkens

Google and Apple and other security issues, some calls from listeners and more on this episode with Ben and Lyle.

Practically Practical Particle Physics

Today Ben mentioned this episode of GS with Linda Carpenter.

Google Keep is no Evernote-killer; calm down, everyone

This week, Google decided to unleash Google Keep, a note-taking app for Android. To hear the tech press tell it, they might as well have unleashed the Second Coming.
Most called it an “Evernote-killer.” A few even thought it could take on Pinterest on the grounds that this has a layout that displays things as tiles, and Pinterest displays things as tiles, so they must compete. (Ignoring, of course, that tiles were the least innovative thing about Pinterest.)

Google Keep? It'll probably be with us until March 2017 - on average

You might think that the introduction of Keep would see the early adopter geeks jumping to use it – even those who don’t remember Notebook’s demise. Instead, it’s been met with sidelong glances.

That’s because the announcement earlier this month that Google Reader, an RSS aggregator, will be shutting down from 1 July has made people who relied on it much more wary about trusting their data to Google’s services.

Twitter, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Yahoo open to hijacking

Twitter, Linkedin, Yahoo! and Hotmail accounts are open to hijacking thanks to a flaw that allows cookies to be stolen and reused, according to a researcher.

The above web applications fail to assign new session identities, which allows for a session fixation attack in which the accounts can be hijacked.

Major security hole (now fixed) allowed Apple passwords to be reset with only email address, date of birth

Apple yesterday rolled out two-step verification, a security measure that promises to further shield Apple ID and iCloud accounts from being hijacked. Unfortunately, today a new exploit has been discovered that affects all customers who haven’t yet enabled the new feature. It allows anyone with your email address and date of birth to reset your password — using Apple’s own tools. We’ve been made aware of a step-by-step tutorial (which remains available as of this writing) that explains in detail how to take advantage of the vulnerability. The exploit involves pasting in a modified URL while answering the DOB security question on Apple’s iForgot page. It’s a process just about anyone could manage, and The Verge has confirmed the glaring security hole firsthand.

Intel’s Pentium launched 20 years ago

Intel’s Pentium processor was launched 20 years ago today (March 22), marking a key shift in the firm’s marketing strategy with an effort to push the Intel brand itself, leading to the chipmaker becoming the dominant supplier of computer chips across the globe.

The Universe Is 13.82 Billion Years Old

The Universe is a wee bit older than we thought. Not only that, but turns out the ingredients are a little bit different, too. And not only that, but the way they’re mixed isn’t quite what we expected, either. And not only that, but there are hints and whispers of something much grander going on as well.
So what’s going on?

Voyager 1 Has Apparently Left the Solar System... Or Maybe Not

This is a nice article about Voyager 1, the farthest man-made object from us, launched way back in 1977.