Kirk McElhearn
Co-Host of Intego Mac Podcast
Kirk McElhearn writes about Macs, iPods, iTunes, books, music and more on his blog Kirkville. He is a regular contributor to The Mac Security Blog, TidBITS, and several other websites and publications. Kirk has written more than twenty books, including Take Control books about iTunes, LaunchBar, and Scrivener.
Kirk McElhearn has hosted 371 Episodes.
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Contact Tracing, Phishing, and a New iPhone
April 17th, 2020 | 28 mins 18 secs
Apple has announced a new iPhone SE, a low-priced phone that's really the iPhone for everyone. Google and Apple are working on a contract tracing app, to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. And Apple users are among those most targeted by phishing. And we inaugurate our new segment, Zoom Zinger, where we highlight security and privacy issues with the Zoom videoconferenceing software. (Sorry about the audio; Josh's recording software crashed, and we had to fall back on our backup Skype recording.)
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How Not to Get Phone Scammed
April 10th, 2020 | 37 mins 2 secs
A good friend of Kirk's, a very tech savvy guy, got scammed on the phone by someone pretending to be from his bank. We discuss how this happened, and all the red flags you need to be aware of. We also discuss how Apple is helping health care workers, and we look at the latest Zoom security and privacy issues.
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Zoom Is a Security and Privacy Nightmare (Zoomenfreude)
April 3rd, 2020 | 31 mins 22 secs
Lots of people have turned to Zoom to stay in touch with friends and family, and to work from home, but this software has had a huge number of security issues. We discuss these and how this trend shows poor attention to security and privacy in this software.
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Medical ID, Apple Updates, Intel Vulnerabilities, and More
March 27th, 2020 | 32 mins 35 secs
Josh and Kirk discuss how to set up a medical ID on an iPhone and Apple Watch, we cover this week's Apple updates, we look at a new Intel CPU bug, and more.
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How to Adapt to Working From Home
March 20th, 2020 | 31 mins 38 secs
Many people are required to work from home for the foreseeable future, so Josh and Kirk have decided to give some tips about working from home, something they both do.
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The History of Apple Malware, with Guest John McAfee
March 13th, 2020 | 33 mins 11 secs
Malware has affected Apple computers since even before the release of the Macintosh. In fact, the very first computer virus that spread in the wild affected the Apple II. We discus the history of Apple malware, and we talk with John McAfee, creator of the first commercial antivirus, about how he created the software.
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RSA Conference 2020 Highlights
March 6th, 2020 | 34 mins 50 secs
Josh attended this year's RSA Conference, one of the big meet-ups about computer security, and discusses what he learned there. We also cover news about smart speakers listening to your conversations (again), a copy/paste issue that Apple says isn't a big deal, and a new limitation by Safari for HTTPS certificates, that will affect some websites.
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10 Things You Shouldn’t Do on Your Work Computer or Phone
February 28th, 2020 | 34 mins 5 secs
Your work computer or phone doesn't belong to you, and you should be careful about what you do on these devices. Your employer can track you and all your activity, and record what you do, and even, perhaps, what you type.
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Switching Default Apps on the iPhone and iPad
February 21st, 2020 | 26 mins 45 secs
Your iPhone or iPad comes with 36 default apps, including Mail, Safari, and Messages. You may want to use other apps for email, for browsing, and for messaging, in part to enhance your security and privacy. While you can't set other apps to replace the defaults, as you can on macOS, you can switch. We explain how.
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Understanding Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
February 14th, 2020 | 32 mins 21 secs
A child spends a fortune on in-app purchases, the CIA has been running a fake company providing encryption services, and beware of public lockers. We then take a deep dive into blockchain technology and cryptocurrency; if you've been wondering what Bitcoin is, we explain (almost) everything.
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How Security Analysts Work
February 7th, 2020 | 34 mins 1 sec
We explain how to delete "off-Facebook activity," discuss a Google Photos data leak, a Twitter phone number issue, and a man who created a traffic jam with a wagon full of smartphones. We then explain how security analysts work, discussing a developer who wanted to know why his Wacom drawing tablet had a privacy policy, and worked out what data the device was sending to a server.
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If It’s Free, You’re the Product
January 31st, 2020 | 31 mins 28 secs
Apple updates everything, the Ring doorbell has trackers in its app, and the Shlayer malware has infected lots of Macs. We then discussed a number of issues where free services you use monetize data collected about you and your activities.
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iPhones Hacked and Cracked
January 24th, 2020 | 29 mins 48 secs
The world's richest man's iPhone was hacked when he clicked on a video in WhatsApp. Police and the FBI are cracking iPhones to get evidence. Should we worry? Tom Cruise would know what to do.
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Your Photos Can Tell People Where You Live
January 17th, 2020 | 32 mins
Photos you shoot with your iPhone, and with some cameras, store location data. Sharing these photos on social media may pinpoint your location: where you live, or where you work. It's easy to remove this data. In the news, we talk about listening in on Skype audio, another Apple - FBI spat about accessing data on an iPhone, Google getting rid of cookies, and more.
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The Year in Apple Security 2019
January 10th, 2020 | 34 mins 52 secs
We look back at the eventful year 2019 in Apple security. In the news, Apple is switching to randomized serial numbers for its products, Apple sues a company over jailbreaking, Firefox has critical vulnerabilities, and more.
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9 Security and Privacy Settings to Activate on Your New iPhone or iPad
January 3rd, 2020 | 30 mins 22 secs
We cover some security news, such as a password breach at Zynga, a user database breach at Waze, and a new Apple patent for under-display biometric sensors. Then we discuss essential settings to keep your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch secure.