Hackers Are Starting to Code Malware for Apple’s M1 Computers

Apple Bytes: 

A security researcher found one of the first examples of malware written to run natively on Apple's new M1 processors.

Last year, Apple launched its first computers powered by the company's own hardware, prompting many developers to code apps specifically for the new M1 processors. Now hackers are following suit.

Patrick Wardle, an independent security researcher who develops free security tools for Macs, said he has found what may very well be the first example of a malicious application developed natively for the new ARM M1 processors. In a blog post, Wardle analyzed an application that appears to be a new version of an infamous adware for MacOS.

The adware installs itself as a malicious Safari extension and is an updated version of an app that calls itself GoSearch22, according to Wardle. The adware collects data from the browser and displays pop-ups, coupons, and banners for ads, according to security website PC Risk.

"It seems like fairly vanilla adware," Wardle told Motherboard in an online chat. "Its main goal, objective, seems to be related to financial gain via ads, search results, etc."

Wardle, however, warned that it's possible that the developers of GoSearch22 could update in the future to include even more invasive and malicious functions.

According to VirusTotal, an online malware repository that shows whether antivirus software detects certain files as malicious, GoSearch22 is a new updated version of an infamous adware known as Pirrit. In 2016 and 2017, cybersecurity researcher Amit Serper published several reports on Pirrit noting that while it was not a "groundbreaking threat, it gives attackers persistence over your machine and is extremely hard for the average user to remove."

Serper said in an online chat that this new adware found by Wardle looks "very familiar" to the Pirrit adware he analyzed years ago.

In 2017, Serper revealed that Pirrit was developed by an ad tech company called TargetingEdge. At the time, the company sent Serper cease and desist letters in an attempt to stop him from publishing his research, claiming they had nothing to do with Pirrit and that their software is not malware.

Wardle said he did not find a link between this new Pirrit version and TargetingEdge, but that may be because he only looked at the adware "from a technical point of view." TargetingEdge did not respond to a request for comment.

Wardle said that this adware was uploaded to VirusTotal by a user who found it in the wild, likely thanks to KnockKnock, a tool developed by Wardle to detect malware on MacOS.

Interestingly, Wardle noticed that not all antivirus engines seem to be ready to detect malware made for the M1 processors. In a simple experiment, Wardle separated the old version of Pirrit from the new one, uploaded them to VirusTotal and saw that around 15 percent of antivirus engines did not detect the new version as malware.

"This should be seen as somewhat of a wakeup call to security tools / [antivirus] engines to make sure they are tested against arm64," Wardle said.

The good news is that Apple has revoked the developer certificate used by Pirrit's makers, which should prevent users from installing it. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

In a way, this discovery shows that malware makers are just like any other developers, they have to keep up with newer technologies.

"The adware folks have demonstrated the most adaptability on macOS. If anyone were going to be first, I would have expected it to be the folks behind Pirrit, Genieo, or Bundlore," said Thomas Reed, a cybersecurity researcher who works for Malwarebytes, referring to other types of adware. "They’re the most active, and most apt to use new techniques."

Credit: vice.com

5 New Windows 10 Features To Try

Few things in life are predictable. Sadly, one is buggy Windows updates. After every major update, you’ll see a slew of reports of broken drivers, features on the fritz, and the Blue Screen of Death.

Those updates also bring vital security patches, so skipping them entirely isn’t your best move. Updates can speed things up, too.

Now that all the kinks are worked out of the big fall Windows update, it’s time to take the best new features for a test drive.

First, you need to update.

Is the Windows 10 October update installed on your computer? Here’s a quick and easy way to check. Hit the Windows key + R, then type in the box that pops up. Select OK. The latest version is 2009, build number 19042.572.

If you haven’t already, you can update Windows 10 by navigating to Settings, click on Update & Security, then click on Windows Update. From there, you’ll be able to see if new updates are available for download. If not, simply click on Check for Updates to force the process.

Now you’re ready to start using these new features.

1. Customize your Start menu

The ability to choose an accent color to customize Windows 10 is nothing new, but the update brings an added twist. You’ll now be able to switch between Light or Dark as the default Windows mode, and for the default app mode.

The default Windows mode changes the color of the taskbar and Start menu. The default app mode changes the color of windows and folders.

To switch between Light or Dark Mode:

   • Select Start in the bottom left corner

   • Click on Settings (the gear icon)

   • Select Personalization, then click Colors in the left menu

   • Under Choose your color, you can select either Light or Dark mode, or a combination of both

From there, you can choose an accent color for all your windows and colors.

Pro tip: Access this even faster with your mouse. Right-click on your desktop and select Personalize. Click on Colors and follow the last step above.

2. See all your open windows and tabs

If you have a lot of windows open, the taskbar can become cluttered with shortcuts and apps. There’s a much faster way to see which windows are open without having to search through the taskbar.

This trick is a time-honored favorite, but now Alt+Tab shows you all your open browser tabs, too. (Note: It only works for Microsoft Edge.)

To try it, press and hold down the Alt key, then press the Tab key. Windows will show you a snapshot of what’s open.

While holding Alt down, you can select a window either by tapping Tab or using your mouse cursor. To close a window, just click on the X in the top-right corner of the preview.

3. Switch to Tablet Mode if you have a Surface Pro or Surface Book

Your Surface Pro or Surface Book can magically transform from a PC to a tablet with a few clicks. This setting is great for when you need a device that’s more touch-friendly and super easy to navigate. It also makes using Windows apps designed for tablets work better.

The switch between tablet and PC mode is super easy:

   • Select THE Action center in the taskbar. It’s the speech bubble-like icon in the far right-hand corner, next to the clock.

   • Underneath the notifications, there are several options that include Wi-Fi connections, Flight mode, and Screen snip.

   • Look for Tablet mode. Tap it to switch.

   • To switch back to PC mode, just follow the same steps.

Note: This feature only works if your device has a touchscreen.

4. Change your display refresh rate

The refresh rate of your monitor determines how smooth motion appears on the screen. This is especially important when playing graphically-intensive video games, but you’ll also notice it when you’re dragging open windows around.

Monitors support different refresh rates, determined by the manufacturer and model. In general, a 60Hz monitor can display images at 60 frames per second.

If your graphics are lagging, check that your screen is at its maximum refresh rate:

   • Click the Start button in the lower left-hand corner, then select Settings (the gear icon).

   • Click on System, then Display. This should open automatically or choose it from the left menu.

   • Scroll down to the second-to-last option, Advanced display settings.

   • If you use dual monitors, select from the drop-down which monitor you want to change.

   • In the Refresh rate drop-down menu, you’ll see a few refresh rate options supported by your monitor.

   • Just click on the desired refresh rate and close the window.

5. Pin tabs to the taskbar

Just like pinning the calculator, snipping tool, or your favorite app to the taskbar, the latest update allows you to pin website tabs, too. The provides easy and immediate access to your most frequently visited websites without launching your browser.

Note: Again, this only works with Microsoft Edge.

To pin tabs:

   • Open Microsoft Edge and browse to the website that you want to pin.

   • In the top right-hand corner, click on Settings (the three dots).

   • Navigate to and hover over More Tools.

   • Click Pin to taskbar and choose the title you want to appear when you hover over the pin.

As a bonus, you can follow the steps above but instead of clicking Pin to taskbar, select Launch taskbar pinning wizard. Edge will take a couple of seconds to analyze your browsing habits and will make a few suggestions of websites to pin for you. Handy!

Credit: Kim Komando

Slow Internet

Tech News and Views

Many residents complain about the slow Internet services that Internet companies provide.  Here's an article about someone who took action and got results.

yahoo.com/news/90-old-takes-10k-advert-140355674

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc. – Executive Board Minutes
February 12, 2021

The Board meeting was cancelled by COVID-19 venue closures.

What Facebook Isn’t Saying - It's The Only Part That Matters

Listen Carefully to What Facebook Isn’t Saying About Apple’s Upcoming Privacy Change.

Instead of creating a better product, it's trying to create a bad guy.

Facebook has said a lot about Apple's upcoming privacy changes, due to arrive with the next update of iOS 14. That change will require app developers to request permission before they track users. Facebook takes particular issue with this since its business is almost entirely based on tracking what users do online and then showing them what it calls "personalized ads."

Clearly, Facebook views those changes as an existential threat. To that end, Facebook has accused Apple of attacking small businesses, of having self-serving motivation for making the change, and even of favoring its own apps over third-parties. I think we could debate each of those things, but honestly, what's much more interesting, is what Facebook isn't saying.

Facebook is trying to create the narrative that Apple is doing something nefarious that is targeting Facebook's business and hurting small businesses. What Apple is really doing is simply giving users a choice over whether they want to be tracked.

Facebook knows that a lot of people don't want to be tracked at all. Everyone has had the experience of looking for something online, only to have an ad appear for the exact pair of shoes you were looking at. Even worse is that often people don't even remember looking something up, they just thought about it, or had a conversation with their partner - and now they're seeing ads on Facebook.

No, Facebook isn't listening to your conversations - it doesn't need to. It just knows that much about you because it tracks you across the internet and even the apps on your smartphone. If all of that seems a little creepy, you can understand why the company doesn't want you thinking about it. In fact, the only reason they get away with it at this point is that most people aren't.

And, that's the point: Facebook doesn't want people thinking about it at all.

But Facebook can't say that, because it would require admitting that it realizes people think all of that tracking is creepy. Facebook doesn't want to be the bad guy in this story, so it had to create one - Apple. You know, the company that wants to give you a choice over whether you'll be tracked.

By the way, Apple isn't saying that Facebook, or any other app for that matter, shouldn't track you. It's just saying they should have to ask permission. Even that goes too far for Facebook because it knows that - if given a choice - a non-zero number of its users will opt to not allow the social media app to track them.

Think about that for a minute - Facebook knows that some number of people that it is currently tracking, would rather the company didn't. The only reason it gets away with it is that they either don't know it's happening, or they don't know they have a choice.

When given the choice, they'll decide they no longer want Facebook to scoop up their browsing activity. Sure, there's probably a lot of people who very well may not care at all. They may be perfectly fine with being tracked. They may even value the personalized ads. They should still have a choice.

The thing is, Facebook isn't making a case for that either. Instead of trying to solve the problem by coming up with a better product that doesn't invade people's privacy or creep them out, Facebook is trying to figure out how to keep it all a secret. It doesn't want to talk about that part - at all.

Instead of acknowledging that some people might not be comfortable with that level of privacy, it's trying to distract its users by pointing at how terrible Apple's decision is for small businesses - many of whom, by the way, were around long before you could advertise on Facebook.

Maybe that's the part it really doesn't want to talk about.

Credit: inc.com