OS X

The HD recording of the iOS / OS X panel discussion that took place at #HITB2012KUL last month has been uploaded to the HITBSecConf YouTube channel.

Apple today released its second supplemental update to OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2. Supplemental Update 2.0 addresses a bug in OS X’s Keychain, the database that stores saved passwords and logins.

We received a couple tips yesterday about 2012 Macs being unable to update to 10.8.2 due to a password-related bug. It appears that today’s update resolves that issue.

Another six weeks, another Firefox version. This time around it's Firefox 17 that has hit the stable channel. As has become the norm since Mozilla implemented its rapid release schedule in 2011, this version introduces a couple of larger features alongside a handful of small ones. Let's jump right in.

OS X 10.9, the next major iteration of Apple's operating system, will apparently include Siri, the "intelligent assistant" that first appeared on the iPhone 4S in late 2011. In addition, Apple's new mapping back-end will replace Google data for Core Location APIs, according to sources speaking to 9to5Mac.

Apple users who have just bought, or who may be thinking about purchasing a new iPhone complete with iOS 6, will do well to make sure their Macs are up to date.

Remember the wails about Apple turning OS X into a "walled garden" when news of GateKeeper emerged? The tool, which allows OS X users to restrict where their apps come from, was announced in February 2012 and was included with Mountain Lion when it was released in July. The controversy hinged on Apple's attempt to guide users toward installing only those apps downloaded from the Mac App Store, or at least settling for a middle ground wherein users could also install apps "signed" by the developer—an action that still costs the developer $99 per year and pads Apple's bank account.

Even with robust security software installed on a Mac system and Apple's efforts to prevent unwanted tampering, someone with brief physical access to your Mac can bypass security measures by booting to alternative volumes or loading in Single User mode. If this concerns you, you might consider locking the system's firmware.

Apple yesterday quietly released a security update for OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, effectively extending support for the three-year-old OS beyond the normal lifecycle.

The Snow Leopard update shipped alongside larger updates for Lion and Mountain Lion, OS X 10.7 and OS X 10.8.

Apple has seeded a new version of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2 to registered developers in the Mac Dev Center. This marks the fourth beta update of 10.8.2 to be released in less than a month, indicating that a public release is imminent.

Unlike the last couple minor version of the 10.8.2 beta, today’s 12C50 update packs several new additions and improvements. Namely, Facebook integration has been fully baked into OS X itself, meaning that everyone should have access to Facebook in Mountain Lion when 10.8.2 drops.

Hackers are exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Java 7, security experts said today.

The unpatched bug can be exploited through any browser running on any operating system, from Windows and Linux to OS X, that has Java installed, said Tod Beardsley, the engineering manager for Metasploit, the open-source penetration testing framework used by both legitimate researchers and criminal hackers.