Apple Issues Network Time Protocol Security Fix for OS X Users

Apple today released a new security update that’s designed to address a "critical security issue" with the Network Time Protocol service on OS X. Apple recommends that all users install the update "as soon as possible."





The update appears to address a problem that was highlighted by the U.S. Government on Friday, December 19 and originally discovered by the Google Security Team. The vulnerability has the potential to allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code using the privileges of the ntpd process.

Google Security Team researchers Neel Mehta and Stephen Roettger have coordinated multiple vulnerabilities with CERT/CC concerning the Network Time Protocol (NTP). As NTP is widely used within operational Industrial Control Systems deployments, NCCIC/ICS-CERT is providing this information for US Critical Infrastructure asset owners and operators for awareness and to identify mitigations for affected devices. ICS-CERT may release updates as additional information becomes available.



These vulnerabilities could be exploited remotely. Exploits that target these vulnerabilities are publicly available.



Products using NTP service prior to NTP–4.2.8 are affected. No specific vendor is specified because this is an open source protocol.

Apple has faced several vulnerabilities over the course of 2014, most recently releasing an OS X bash update in September to fix the “Shellshock” security flaw. Today’s security update can be downloaded from the Mac App Store.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, December 22

Apple's Antitrust E-Book Case Enters Appeals, Outlook Good for Apple [iOS Blog]

Last year, Apple lost a monumental e-book antitrust case that alleged the company had colluded with publishers to raise the price of e-books. As a result, Apple was forced to submit to a cumbersome external antitrust monitor and the company agreed to pay out $450 million as part of a settlement with several class action lawyers and state district attorneys.



Throughout the lawsuit, Apple maintained its innocence, and in February, the company formally filed for an appeal, asking the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the original ruling as the judge's decision was a "radical departure" from modern antitrust law.



As of this week, Apple's case is being heard in appeals court, and it appears that things are going in the company's favor thus far. According to a report from Reuters , some of the judges "appeared sympathetic" to Apple's argument that its agreements with e-book publishers were "pro-competitive."



One of Apple's main arguments during the e-book antitrust case focused on Judge Cote's treatment of the company. Apple believes it was treated unfairly because Cote opted to ignore the positive impact that Apple had on introducing competition into the e-book market at a time when Amazon had a 90 percent market share.



Rather than being treated as a new entrant into the e-book market, which would have demanded a "rule of reason" analysis that judged Apple's impact on improving competition in a way that was good for consumers, Apple's role was viewed as "per se illegal" and automatically labeled anticompetitive despite Amazon's large command of the e-book market.

Circuit Judge Dennis Jacobs asked a Department of Justice lawyer why it was wrong for the publishers to get together to defeat a "monopolist" that was using "predatory pricing."



"It's like the mice getting together to put a bell on the cat," Jacobs said.

Circuit Judge Debra Livingston also said it was "troubling" that Apple's normally "perfectly legal" contracts were labeled as a scheme. A lawyer for Apple told the judges "We think the conduct here was innovative and pro-competitive." Should Apple win its appeal, it may not have to pay the $450 million settlement it reached in July. If the case is overturned, Apple will pay no fines, and if it's sent back to Judge Cote for a retrial, Apple will pay just $50 million to consumers and $20 million in attorney fees.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, December 15

The 10 most wanted games on every console this holiday season

We've been talking about it incessantly, but the holiday gaming season is finally upon us. Destiny has been out for over a month, Bayonetta 2 launches on Friday and Sunset Overdrive hits store shelves next week. Despite a few notable delays, there are still plenty of huge releases ahead of us, but which are receiving the most attention?

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, October 22

Apple might sell more than 200 million iPhone 6 units in FY2015

A new report from Asia detailing Apple-related supply chain gossip indicates the company might be selling well over 200 million combined iPhone 6 units in its 2015 fiscal year (from October 2014 to September 2015). Digitimes has learned from sources familiar with the matter that Apple has ordered up to 250 million units of combined iPhone 6 and Apple Watch chips. Of those, up to 40 million chips might be produced for the Apple Watch, leaving the rest for iPhone 6 models.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, October 06

Apple Releases New iTunes 12 Beta for OS X Yosemite [Mac Blog]

Apple today released a new version of the iTunes 12 beta for both developers and OS X Yosemite beta testers, following Monday's release of the Yosemite Golden Master Candidate and a fourth public beta.





First introduced in July, iTunes 12 includes an "elegant new design" that also includes support for several iOS 8/Yosemite features, including Family Sharing. Apple has released several iTunes beta updates thus far, fixing small bugs and other issues.



iTunes 12 also includes improved playlists, a redesigned Info Window, and a new icon. Both iTunes 12 and OS X Yosemite remain in a beta testing phase, though a public release for the software is expected in October.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, October 02

Tim Cook pumps up Apple employees after ‘exciting,’ ‘amazing’ media event

Tim Cook will never compete with, say, Steve Ballmer when it comes to projecting raucous energy. That said, the Apple CEO did send out a memo to employees after the company's big media event on Tuesday afternoon that praised them for their work over the lats several months and thanking them for helping him deliver an "exciting" presentation of "amazing" products.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, September 09

BGR plays Destiny live starting at 5:30 p.m. ET – watch right here!

The biggest game of September has finally arrived. We got our hands on Destiny, so we're going to stream for a little while to give you a taste of what you have to look forward to when the game launches at midnight. You can find the Twitch stream below, but this is our first stream, so please forgive any egregious technical difficulties. We'll try to keep them to a minimum.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, September 08

Microsoft just gave you another great reason to buy the Xbox One

If you're waiting until the holiday season to pick up an Xbox One, you're going to have a wealth of options to choose from. The most appealing offer might be the long-awaited white Xbox One included in the Sunset Overdrive bundle, but Call of Duty fans have their own exclusive bundle to look forward to. Microsoft announced at Gamescom on Tuesday that it was teaming up with Activision to release a Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare-skinned Xbox One with a 1TB hard drive for $499.99 this fall.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, August 12

Scoring a Moto 360 will be much easier in the U.S. than anywhere else

Motorola is going to launch the Moto 360 this summer, at least in the U.S., but the device may arrive a lot later in some international markets. Good Gear Guide has learned from the company that the smartwatch will only be launched in Australia at some point in the fourth quarter of the year, and not sooner.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, August 08

Did Microsoft just cancel Windows Phone’s potential killer feature?

Earlier this year, we heard that Microsoft was working on something called 3D Touch, a new system that would integrate the Xbox One's Kinect technology into Windows Phone. WPCentral's sources now say, however, that plans to release a device with 3D Touch have been put on the shelf for the time being because Microsoft execs and engineers couldn't escape the nagging sensation that it was nothing more than a gimmick.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, July 18

This hideous smartphone will only cost you $14,000

Do money and taste really go together? The newest smartphone from luxury brand Vertu suggests otherwise. The Wall Street Journal brings us word that Vertu's recently launched Signature Touch flagship smartphone features "a digital camera by Hasselblad, global Wi-Fi from iPass, Dolby Digital Plus virtual surround sound and a personalized concierge service." Oh, and it will also set you back $14,100. Yes, you read that correctly.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, June 18

Jony Ive explains why Apple ditched plastic for metal

Although we're accustomed to Apple hardware being built from sturdy metal, that wasn't always the case. In fact, anyone who remembers Apple computers from the late '90s and early 2000s knows that they featured plastic shells like a lot of other laptops and desktops at the time. However, starting with the Powerbook G4 in 2001, Apple made a switch to using metal for its computers, a tradition that it's extended with its MacBooks, iPads and iPhones.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, June 16

This iWatch concept almost puts an iPhone on your wrist

A new iWatch concept video imagines Apple’s upcoming smartwatch as a slim wearable gadget that would feature a large, flexible, touchscreen display ready to offer users access to many default iOS features. In fact, considering the size of the device, such an iWatch could perform many iPhone functions, including texting, although there isn’t support for a Phone app.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, May 22

Here’s another way the Galaxy S5 Prime will be better than the Galaxy S5

So far a lot of the speculation about the upcoming Galaxy S5 Prime has been about its reportedly sturdier metal build but now ZDNet Korea reports that the S5 Prime might be better than the Galaxy S5 in yet another way: Its wireless connectivity. ZDNet Korea's sources in the telecom industry say that the Galaxy S5 Prime will be able to support download speeds of up to 225Mbps thanks to its inclusion of Qualcomm’s MDM 9635 chip that released last November and that it is capable of sending and receiving data through three different spectrum bands.

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Posted in 2014 at 09:15PM, May 20