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A security flaw means that users of almost every modern web browser can be surreptitiously tracked online without their knowledge, Ars Technica reports, even when they make use of “private browsing.” Apple users are particularly vulnerable, as their devices do not have a function that lets users delete super cookies from their browsers. Most websites place what’s called a “cookie” on visitors’ computers, which is used to track them and record their preferences. It’s how websites can remember your password, for example. Like your web-browsing history, cookies are easy to delete. If you use your browser’s “private browsing” mode, they’re...

New malware targeting Mac machines, opening backdoors on them and roping them into a botnet currently numbering around 17,000 zombies has been spotted and analyzed by malware researchers of Russian AV company Dr. Web. The malware, dubbed Mac.BackDoor.iWorm, targets computers running OS X and makes extensive use of encryption in its routines, the researchers noted. What's even more interesting is that it gets the IP address of a valid command and control (C&C) server from a post on popular news site Reddit. Unfortunately, the researchers didn't mention how the malware spreads, but they shared that it is unpacked into the...

More than 600,000 Macs have been infected with a new version of the Flashback Trojan horse that's being installed on people's computers with the help of Java exploits, security researchers from Russian antivirus vendor Doctor Web said on Wednesday. Flashback is a family of Mac OS malware that appeared in September 2011. Older Flashback versions relied on social engineering tricks to infect computers, but the latest variants are distributed via Java exploits that don't require user interaction. On Tuesday, Apple released a Java update in order to address a critical vulnerability that's being exploited to infect Mac computers with the...

A site claims that there is a "fundamental problem" with Firefox updates using the OS X operating system. Linux and Windows operating systems are affected too. Paul Sture says that if you run as a non-admin user on OS X, Firefox grays out the check for updates menu item and doesn't automatically tell you when security updates are available. Firefox, he says, only allows Update Checking when you have write access to the Firefox application although most people do their daily work on a non-privileged account. He says he's pointed out the flaw to the Secure IT Foundation. There's more...

In the last few weeks numerous technology and mass media web-sites published hundreds of stories about Apple, its products, their availability or their issues. But does that enthusiasm towards the company have any correlation with Apple’s actual market share? It seems that not really. Apple is a company that has been extensively covered by media, especially in the USA, for many years now without an obvious reason: apart from the iPod, all the products from Apple are hardly used by a lot of people around the globe. But the latest load of rush coverage about Apple on the Internet more...

Apple on Tuesday issued what appeared to be a minor update to its iPhone 3G smart phone, noting in its terse support documentation only that the release "fixes bugs." But the size of the iPhone 2.0.2 update, as it's called--a massive 250 MB--belied Apple's attempts at passing this off as a minor update. More important, the company's wireless partners have confirmed that Apple is racing to fix an endemic and embarrassing series of connectivity problems that have plagued the iPhone 3G since it launched last month. Apple's event marketing approach certainly has its advantages, and with the iPhone specifically the...