Russia’s Kremlin ordered officials to stop using iPhones, apparently over concerns the devices could be vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, Reuters reports. When surveillance-as-a-service firms sit exposed for brazenly undermining device security, it’s hard to think there isn’t an argument there. But the bigger story isn’t the harm to Apple’s small business in Russia, it’s the threat to digital supply chains it shows.
Microsoft has resolved 80 new CVEs this month in addition to four earlier CVEs, bringing the number of security issues addressed in this month’s Patch Tuesday release to 84.
Unfortunately, we have two zero-day flaws in Outlook (CVE-2023-23397) and Windows (CVE-2023-24880) that require a “Patch Now” release requirement for both Windows and Microsoft Office updates. As it was last month, there were no further updates for Microsoft Exchange Server or Adobe Reader. This month the team at Application Readiness has provided a helpful infographic that outlines the risks associated with each of the updates for this cycle.
Apple-focused device management and security vendor Jamf today published its Security 360: Annual Trends report, which reveals the five security tends impacting organizations running hybrid work environments. As it is every year, the report is interesting, so I spoke to Michael Covington, vice president of portfolio strategy, for more details about what the company found this year.
First, here’s a brief rundown of some of the salient points in the report:
A look at the Biden Administration’s recently updated National Cybersecurity Strategy document seems to reflect some of the approaches to cybercrime Apple already employs.
Take privacy, for example. The proposal suggests that privacy protection will no longer be something big tech can argue against – companies will be required to prioritize privacy. That’s fine if you run a business that does not require wholesale collection and analysis of user information, which has always been Apple’s approach. The best way to keep information private, the company argues, is not to collect it at all.
Apple appears poised to make it more difficult to use cheap USB-C cables with its devices, and while it may well make a few dollars more from the purported plan, there are also good reasons to put the system in place.
The claim is that Apple plans to replace Lightning ports and cables with USB-C in the iPhone 15, and when it does it will introduce a Made For iPhone (MFi) scheme for such products. The idea is that consumers will be able to purchase cables and other devices in full confidence that they will be compatible with their iPhone.
Nearly every day, software updates of some kind roll out for our systems. From operating systems to antivirus software, to cloud services, to hardware devices, virtually none of the technology we use is static. And with these updates come side effects and problems that sometimes take a while to get fixed.
I recently found an interesting bug that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention when I purchased a Lexmark multi-function printer. As part of the installation process, I went online to download the latest printer driver. (I always recommend going to a vendor website to grab the latest drivers because, after all, the latest software should have the latest fixes, right?) I was able to set up the printer to print, scan, and electronically fax and figured I was done for the day.
Microsoft’s February Patch Tuesday update deals with 76 vulnerabilities that affect Windows, Exchange, Office, and Microsoft development tools — and three Windows vulnerabilities (CVE-2023-21823, CVE-2023-21715 and CVE-2023-23376) have been reported as exploited in the wild and require immediate attention.
If there was ever any doubt about the future of unified endpoint management (UEM) as a key component of enterprise mobility strategies, the now-permanent shift to hybrid and remote work models has sealed the deal. UEM has become a critical part of enterprise efforts to manage this complex environment.
Forrester Research’s 2022 Business Technographics Infrastructure Hardware Survey shows that 28% of infrastructure hardware technology decision makers will be investing in UEM over the next 12 months. “This is in line with previous years, so we continue to see stable growth in the UEM market,” says Andrew Hewitt, senior analyst at Forrester.