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Stay Alert! Voice Phishing Used in Recent Ransomware Attacks
All it took for MGM Resorts International to be compromised with ransomware was a quick phone call, which some now call “voice phishing” or “vishing.” An attacker using LinkedIn information to pose as an employee asked MGM’s help desk for a password change, after which they were able to install ransomware. MGM is now up to Read more -
Forget Your Just-Changed Passcode? iOS 17’s Passcode Reset Has Your Back
The hardest time to remember your iPhone or iPad passcode is right after you’ve changed it. Generally speaking, there’s no reason to change your passcode, but if you inadvertently or intentionally shared it with someone with whom you wouldn’t trust your bank account information, changing it to something new is a good idea. We could also imagine a child who knows your passcode changing it on you... Read more -
Keep a USB Keyboard and Mouse for Troubleshooting
Steve Jobs famously railed against cable clutter, and it’s now easy to use a desktop Mac with a wireless keyboard and mouse, either from Apple or another manufacturer. That’s fine for regular usage, but Bluetooth keyboards and mice aren’t always sufficient. Batteries wear out, pairing can fail, and wireless interference can cause lags or spurious inputs. Plus, if you need to boot into macOS Rec... Read more -
Is Your Mac Running Low on Disk Space? Here’s How to Delete Unnecessary Files
Between apps, photos, videos, music, and downloads, it’s easy to fill up your Mac’s drive, particularly one with just 128 or 256 GB of drive space. macOS warns you when you get too low on space, but those warnings may come late—for optimum Mac performance, we recommend you keep at least 10–20% of your drive free for new downloads and virtual memory swap files. There are excellent utilities that... Read more -
Networking Gear Does Wear Out—Suspect It in Internet Slowdowns and Dropouts
We’ve helped some clients recently with networking problems that seemed to be related to Internet connections. Most notable was intermittently slow Internet performance, causing the client to call their ISP to upgrade to a higher bandwidth connection with guaranteed throughput. But that extra monthly expense turned out to be unnecessary once we tracked the problem to a malfunctioning cable mode... Read more -
Tired of Nonstop Cookie Popups? Dismiss Them Automatically with These Extensions
The European Union has for many years required that websites—at least those serving European users—gain informed consent before storing the personal data of those users. That data includes cookies, which are bits of information stored in Web browsers that websites can read and write. Cookies are widely used for remembering login information, saving user account information, maintaining a... Read more -
Want to Password-Protect a PDF? Follow These Best Practices
We periodically field questions about password-protecting a PDF to prevent the wrong people from reading it. Lawyers want to ensure that drafts of legal documents don’t fall into the wrong hands, financial advisers want to keep confidential financial information private, and authors want to prevent their writing from being shared broadly on the Internet. Others don’t worry so much about a docum... Read more -
What Should You Do about an Authentication Code You DIDN’T Request?
We strongly encourage using two-factor authentication (2FA) or two-step verification (2SV) with online accounts whenever possible. The details vary slightly, but with either one, after you enter your password, you must enter an authentication code to complete the login. Although it’s always best to get such codes from an authentication app like Read more -
Frustrated by System Settings? Use the View Menu or Search
In macOS 13 Ventura, Apple replaced the creaky System Preferences with System Settings, which uses a more iOS-like interface. Many people find System Settings overwhelming, partly because they had memorized where to look in System Preferences (but System Settings has many other design flaws as well—it’s not your fault). We have two recommendations to make it more easily navigable. First, for an... Read more -
Erase Image Content in Preview with Copied Color Blocks
Apple’s Preview is a surprisingly capable graphics editor for making quick changes to screenshots and other illustrations, but it lacks a built-in way to delete content while leaving the background. Here’s the workaround—select a rectangle of the background color, copy it, paste it, and then move it over the undesirable content—as shown in the After screenshot below, where blue selection dots d... Read more