Newsletter Archives

• Apple security updates for May

  Posted on May 18, 2023 at 22:56 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Apple security updates out…

  💻 macOS Ventura 13.4 – 51 bugs fixed
  📱 iOS and iPadOS 16.5 – 39 bugs fixed
  ⌚ watchOS 9.5 – 32 bugs fixed
  💻 macOS Monterey 12.6.6 – 29 bugs fixed
  📺 tvOS 16.5 – 28 bugs fixed
  💻 macOS Big Sur 11.7.7 – 25 bugs fixed
  📱 iOS and iPadOS 15.7.6 – 17 bugs fixed
  🌐 Safari 16.5 – 5 bugs fixed

  Three zero days fixed in this batch

  Apple Patch Lady Posts

• Apple emergency updates

  Posted on April 7, 2023 at 12:47 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  (First off Good Friday, Happy Passover, Happy Ramadan, Happy near the end of the weekend to everyone)

  Apple pushed updates for 2 new zero-days that may have been actively exploited.

  🐛 CVE-2023-28206 (IOSurfaceAccelerator):
  – macOS Ventura 13.3.1
  – iOS and iPadOS 16.4.1

  🐛 CVE-2023-28205 (WebKit):
  – macOS Ventura 13.3.1
  – iOS and iPadOS 16.4.1

  Specifically:

  💻 macOS Ventura 13.3.1 – 2 bugs fixed
  📱 iOS and iPadOS 16.4.1 – 2 bugs fixed

  On the Apple platform when you read “may have been exploited” that’s usually geek speak for “was used in a very targeted attack and has not been widely used”.

  Apple Patch Lady Posts, Zero Day

• Apple zero days fixed today

  Posted on March 27, 2023 at 19:39 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  💻 macOS Ventura 13.3 – 58 bugs fixed
  📱 iOS and iPadOS 16.4 – 33 bugs fixed
  💻 macOS Monterey 12.6.4 – 27 bugs fixed
  💻 macOS Big Sur 11.7.5 – 25 bugs fixed
  ⌚ watchOS 9.4 – 16 bugs fixed

  📱 iOS and iPadOS 15.7.4 – 16 bugs fixed
  📺 tvOS 16.4 – 14 bugs fixed
  🌐 Safari 16.4 – 2 bugs fixed
  🛠️ Studio Display Firmware Update 16.4 – 1 bug fixed

  Several bugs may have been actively exploited. So far I’m only seeing targeted attacks, not widespread.

  Apple Patch Lady Posts

• Is your backup encrypted?

  Posted on March 4, 2023 at 23:10 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Just a reminder that if you are an iphone user, you can turn on Advanced Data Protection.  This enables end to end encryption on your iCloud backups so that you and only people you choose (and not attackers that gain access to your password) get access to your photos and data.

  Now that said… be aware of some limitations. If you have an older Mac computer you won’t be able to enable this.

  Also once you enable it, you’ll need to approve access when you log into icloud on the web.

  And THEN, make sure you document that encryption password and have various recovery methods to ensure should you need to get back in, you can. Therein lies the rub.  Only turn on encryption if you’ve ensured that you have documented how to recover.

  Requirements
  To turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, you need:

  An Apple ID with two-factor authentication.
  A passcode or password set for your device.
  At least one account recovery contact or recovery key. If you don’t already have one, you’ll be guided to set one up when you turn on Advanced Data Protection.
  Updated software on all of the devices where you’re signed in with your Apple ID:
  iPhone with iOS 16.2 or later
  iPad with iPadOS 16.2 or later
  Mac with macOS 13.1 or later
  Apple Watch with watchOS 9.2 or later
  Apple TV with tvOS 16.2 or later
  HomePod with software version 16.0 or later
  Windows computer with iCloud for Windows 14.1 or later

  Apple Patch Lady Posts

• Apple is out with several zero days in Feb patch bundle

  Posted on February 14, 2023 at 00:58 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Apple is once again patching Webkit bugs in a series of updates out today for several of their platforms:

  💻 macOS 13.2.1 – 3 bugs fixed
  📱 iOS and iPadOS 16.3.1 – 2 bugs fixed
  📺 tvOS 16.3.2 (details available soon) – no details yet
  ⌚ watchOS 9.3.1 (details available soon) – no details yet

  More tomorrow for Microsoft – stay tuned!

  Apple Patch Lady Posts

• Apple announces new Mac products

  Posted on January 30, 2023 at 02:45 CST by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.05 • 2023-01-30

  APPLE NEWS

  

  By Will Fastie

  The MacBook Pro and Mac mini are upgraded to new versions of Apple’s M2 system on a chip.

  All models became available last Tuesday.

  There’s not a lot of news here. The move to the M2 series of Apple silicon was inevitable and expected for both product lines, so the new products are not much of a surprise. But it’s important to keep up, because Apple silicon keeps evolving.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.05.0, 2023-01-30).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Apple Apple M2, Apple News, Apple Silicon, Mac mini, MacBook, Newsletters

• Thinking of moving to Apple?

  Posted on January 15, 2023 at 00:35 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Now that Windows 7 is at it’s end of life, if you are thinking about moving to a different platform remember that if your data is filled full of basic stuff like Word documents, Excel files, music files, photos and what not all of this will be able to be viewed and opened on platforms like Apple or even Linux. But if you use the native apps in these platforms, remember to export or save as PDF or back to a Microsoft centric file format if you plan to share with others.

  Often the built in applications in these other platforms save in a file format that isn’t able to be natively opened on a Windows machine. So that person will need to find a converter or ask you to export it to a Microsoft format. Fortunately, this is pretty easy to do.

  I’ve done a video showcasing the Apple versions of Word and Excel as well as the native applications that can save in the .doc and .xls format.

  Apple Patch Lady Posts

• Master Patch list updated as of January 10, 2023

  Posted on January 12, 2023 at 11:57 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  #PatchTuesday #DeadBodyWedneday #KeepaneyeoutforissuesThursday

  Consumers:  Defer updates at this time.

  I’ve updated the Master Patch List for Tuesday’s releases.

  It’s too soon at this time for consumers to be making recommendations, I’m still watching for issues.

  For businesses, the impact to look out for and keep an eye on are any Exchange on premises server you are still patching.

  As a reminder

  • Windows 11 22H2: Not recommended
  • Windows 11 21H2: If you have a Windows 11 PC, recommended
  • Windows 10 22H2: Recommended
  • Windows 10 21H2: Recommended (if a vendor won’t support 22H2)
  • Apple Ventura – tentative. Check with the applications you rely on if they recommend this release.

  As always, thank you all for supporting the cause! Remember a donation will give you access and if you donate $50 or more you’ll get a special code to enable text messages sent to your phone each time the Master Patch List gets updated and when I change the MS-DEFCON level.

  Apple, Windows Security Master Patch List, Patch Lady Posts

• Do you know the easy way to get into the boot menu?

  Posted on January 8, 2023 at 00:53 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  During last week’s video I recommended that you look for a backup software that adjusts the boot menu so you can easily get under the operating system and recover should something happen. Do you know the OTHER way to get under the operating system into the troubleshooting screen that’s just as easy? Watch it here!

  On Windows 10 and 11, Click the Windows Start menu, then the Power button. While pressing down the Shift key, click the Restart button. This will take you to the Windows Troubleshooting options, where you can reboot to BIOS.

  But wait there’s another way…. you can access Windows Settings by right clicking on the Start Menu. Then navigate to the Update and Security section then the Recovery section. In the Recovery settings, under the Advanced startup section, click Restart now.  Note that if you don’t see an option for UEFI as an extra option (like in the video) it’s because your system doesn’t support uefi boot or is in legacy mode.

  Then wait for the loading screen to complete and then click the Troubleshoot button. Tap the advanced button and then choose what you need to do – you can even boot into the bios settings from here.

  Now if your computer isn’t bootable, you can still get to these boot options menu via the Windows 10 USB installation drive.  Plug the USB drive into your usb drive on your computer. While booting, before Windows starts to load (and you’ll need to do this quickly) you need to continuously press F12 to enter your PC’s BIOS. Then select USB Drive as the boot device and Press Enter key.

  This has ALWAYS been annoying to me:  The keys to press, such as F12, F2, Delete, or Esc, differ on computers from different manufacturers.

  Got a Macintosh? Do you know it has similar firmware booting options?

  First is it the newer style with Apple silicon or older Intel based?

  If newer, turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button as your Mac starts up. Release the power button when you see the startup options screen, which shows your startup disks and a gear icon labeled Options.

  If it’s the older Intel style, you can read this post for the various key combinations.

  Apple, Tech Help, Windows 10, Windows 11 Patch Lady Posts

• So when do you decide to update?

  Posted on December 17, 2022 at 23:34 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  So there’s a pending update. It has security components. Should you update immediately? Well if you are a regular AskWoody reader you’d know what that answer is. Tonight’s tip for the weekend is not about what you should do if you run Windows, rather it’s about what to do if you run the Apple platform.

  

  Unless you’ve set your machine to automatically install updates, you can see that you’ll be reminded/prompted that Ventura 13.1 is ready to be installed if you’ve already installed Ventura 13. But should you install Ventura in the first place?

  .

  First you need to ask yourself – do you have a backup? Should something happen with the update or should the hard drive fail for any reason, you want to make sure you have a backup. So first review if your backup has been working. On the Apple platform you can either use the built in time vault or use a third party program to back up your computer. Next no matter the platform I make sure I test how to restore at least a file. It may feel a bit extreme to test restore an entire machine, but at a minimum you should delete a few files and then test restoring those files.

  Ventura includes improvements to search in Messages, an option to play a sound in the Find My app to locate AirTags, AirPods Pro, and ‌Find My‌ network accessories, plus there are several bug fixes.

  Now just like in the Microsoft universe, there is no need to install major updates right away. Especially in business and University settings, some are still saying to hold off and not install Ventura on your Apple systems. And of course the more you hold back, the more the vendor puts back those items that they removed and people wanted back.

  Bottom line, no matter what the platform, have a backup. Don’t jump to a new release too quickly. Take the advice from this site no matter the platform and don’t be first in updating your system.

  Apple Patch Lady Posts

• Master Patch List as of December 13, 2022

  Posted on December 14, 2022 at 15:50 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums
  

  #PatchTuesday

  Business patchers:  Microsoft has indicated that they fixed the memory issue with the LSASS patch but still waiting for community confirmation.

  Consumers:  Defer updates at this time.  The secure boot patch KB5012170 has been released to apply to Windows 10 and 11 22H2 so be sure to defer it as well.

  I’ve updated the Master Patch List for Tuesday’s releases.

  It’s too soon at this time for consumers to be making recommendations, I’m still watching for issues.

  For businesses, the impact to look out for and keep an eye on are the Kerberos related patches.  Microsoft has indicated that the memory leak issues introduced in last month’s Kerberos updates have been fixed but I am still waiting for community confirmation.

  As a reminder

  • Windows 11 22H2: Not recommended
  • Windows 11 21H2: If you have a Windows 11 PC, recommended
  • Windows 10 22H2: Recommended
  • Windows 10 21H2: Recommended (if a vendor won’t support 22H2)

  As always, thank you all for supporting the cause! Remember a donation will give you access and if you donate $50 or more you’ll get a special code to enable text messages sent to your phone each time the Master Patch List gets updated and when I change the MS-DEFCON level.

  Apple, Windows Security Master Patch List, Patch Lady Posts

• New updates out for iOS and iPadOS 16.1.1

  Posted on November 9, 2022 at 14:11 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ⚒️ FIXED IN iOS and iPadOS 16.1.1 ⚒️

  New updates out for iOS and iPadOS today

  Both bugs from “Google project zero” researchers.  No details as to what is being fixed in the bugs.

  Apple Patch Lady Posts
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