Security

CleverPin lets you use an iPhone passcode only when you need it

Italian developer Filippo Bigarella has been working hard to update his jailbreak tweaks with iOS 7 support, highlighted by the release of Springtomize 3 over the weekend. With an update to that flagship tweak out of the way, Bigarella has followed up by pushing out a new version of CleverPin for iOS 7 and later.

You may recall our own Jeff Benjamin reviewing the original version of CleverPin, a security-based extension, nearly three years ago. Take a look at what has changed since then… 

Sunrise Calendar receives security update following backlash

One of our favorite calendar apps, Sunrise Calendar, received a minor but important update today. The app has been reworked to no longer send your Apple credentials—for those who use iCloud Calendar—to their third-party servers.

The update follows a spell of user backlash, spearheaded by a handful of prominent iOS developers who criticized the app for requiring users to offer up their Apple IDs and passwords and then sending them to non-Apple servers...

Rovio denies wrongdoing in NSA’s snooping of Angry Birds players, but…

A report yesterday by The New York Times and other news organizations has provided yet another unsettling glimpse into the NSA's wide-ranging surveillance practices.

The speculation, based on information from documents provided by the NSA leaker Edward Snowden, suggests that the NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ have been collecting private user data from mobile apps, in real time, as it travels across the Internet.

Profile data being collected from popular games such as Rovio’s Angry Birds typically includes age, location and gender, the allegations go. And with games that show ads, the agencies are also able to intercept users' surprisingly detailed advertising profiles, mining it for new information...

Apple provides update on National Security Orders and account information requests

Apple has posted an update to information pertaining to national security and law enforcement orders, confirming that it's been working closely with the White House, the U.S. Attorney General, congressional leaders, and the Department of Justice to "advocate for greater transparency with regard to the national security orders we receive".

Apple CEO Tim Cook briefly touched on the topic in an interview with ABC’s David Muir, saying the NSA does not have access to Apple's servers as the snooping agency would have to “cart us out in a box” for that kind of access (those are his exact words)...

Password-management firm names Apple most secure out of top 100 sites

With high profile hacking incidents making headlines now on what seems like a weekly basis, people are starting to think more about their online security. And one of the first questions they tend to ask is: how safe is my password at [insert name] website?

Password-management company Dashlane just released a report that may help answer this question for many users. The firm has conducted a comprehensive study of the top 100 e-commerce websites, based on 24 criteria, and here's what they found out...

Tim Cook says NSA would have to “cart us out in a box” for server access

We're still a few hours away from ABC airing David Muir's interview with Tim Cook, but the network has been leaking tidbits of the discussion all day. Earlier we saw a clip of Cook talking about Apple's new sapphire plant in Arizona, and now this.

ABC has posted another preview of tonight's Cook interview. This time the CEO answers questions about Apple's position on the recent NSA surveillance scandal, saying the Agency would have to "cart us out in a box" to gain access to their servers...

Sunrise Calendar criticized over request for iCloud credentials

We're big fans of the Sunrise Calendar app here at iDB. We named it one of our Apps of the Week in October of last year, and it has a permanent spot on our list of Best iPhone apps. It's a great-looking, full-featured alternative to Apple's stock Calendar.

But Sunrise has been taking a lot of heat lately for one of its newer features: iCloud support. You see, in order for you to add your iCloud account, the app requires you to enter your Apple ID and password. And some people see this as a huge security risk...

Phil Schiller points to new mobile security report criticizing Android

Phil Schiller doesn’t tweet very often. But when he does, he tends to make good use of his 115,000+ followers. Early last year the executive tweeted a link to an Android-slamming mobile malware report, and today he's pointed to another report that highlights Android's security flaws.

This afternoon, Schiller tweeted a link to Cisco's 2014 Annual Security Report, which was released last week. The report notes that overall vulnerabilities are the highest they've ever been (since tracking began in 2000), and that 99% of all mobile malware is targeted at Android devices...

Following backlash, Starbucks beefs up security in iPhone app

You have to hand it to the folks of Starbucks. When they want to, they can move rather quickly. Hot on the heels of its blog post earlier today addressing security concerns regarding its iPhone app, the coffee company released an update this evening.

The change log for the update, which is marked as version 2.6.2, notes the new release brings 'additional performance enhancements and safeguards.' And we're hoping this means that the app no longer stores user passwords and data in plain text...

Starbucks will update its iOS app to address security concerns

Earlier today we told you about a report that raised security issues concerning the Starbucks iPhone app. A researcher discovered that the most used mobile-payment app in the US stores unencrypted user data like passwords and emails.

The problem with this is that by connecting your iPhone to a computer, someone could easily retrieve this info from a crash log—no jailbreak required. And the only way for Starbucks to fix the vulnerability is through an App Store update...

Starbucks admits its iPhone app stores unencrypted passwords, location data

Following a report from security researcher Daniel Wood, Starbucks executives admitted this week that the company's mobile app stores user names and passwords in clear text, with no encryption. It also keeps a record of unsecured geolocation data.

The problem with this, Wood says, is that by connecting your iPhone to a computer, someone could easily retrieve this info from a crash log—no jailbreak or special hardware required. And what's worse is Starbucks isn't doing anything to fix the issue...

iTouchSecure: an amazing Touch ID security app for autofilling passwords

After a few days of intense testing, I can now recommend iTouchSecure for iOS. iTouchSecure is a recently released jailbreak tweak that allows you to autofill every password in any app using Touch ID. It's what we all imagined Touch ID evolving into after Apple had some time to perfect the technology. But you don't have to wait for the evolution. All you need is a jailbroken iPhone 5s and 5 bucks.

iTouchSecure is one of those jailbreak tweaks that convinces people on the fence that they need to jailbreak. It can speed up your workflow when using apps that require you to enter a password, and it's about as secure as one could hope a tweak like this to be.

The iPhone 5s' Touch ID sensor is pretty remarkable in itself, but when combined with a tweak like iTouchSecure, it goes from remarkable to downright amazing. We've got a full video walkthrough showcasing iTouchSecure's features inside. Have a look and see why this must have jailbreak tweak should be installed on your iPhone 5s.