Artificial Intelligence - creator of super-users and (in fiction at least) destroyer of worlds. A.I. is the greatest thing since sliced bread, according to Silicon Valley. In the movies though, it’s a source of soulless control that will eventually kill us all.

Speaking of killing - you may have some time to kill this holiday season. So we decided to fill it with films! We’ll look at three of our favorite A.I. films, what they got right, and what we should learn from them on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Public wifi is everywhere when we're traveling, but is it safe? We're looking at ways to make sure. Plus - security updates in Apple's OS updates on Checklist No. 404, brought to you by SecureMac.

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The FBI is suggesting that people use communications tools that employ end-to-end-encryption. That's due to hackers from China accessing major telecoms in the U.S., using a backdoor built for "good guys." We’ll look at the Salt Typhoon attack, the FBI’s change of heart on encryption, and consider a few end-to-end-encrypted communication options on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Bad guys and A.I. may try to wreck our holiday shopping. From deepfake celebrity endorsements to more convincing phishing messages to imitation sites that look like the real thing - there are tons of scams out there, aided by A.I. Good news though - they can be thwarted using the same practices we’ve used for years. We’ll revisit those on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Apple released a slew of updates this week to fix a couple of zero-days targeting Intel-based Macs. So why did we have to update our iPhones? We’ll explore. First though - bad guys in Switzerland are sending malware by mail. Like - physical mail. How does that work and what can we learn? Find out on this edition of The Checklist brought to you by SecureMac.

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This week, we’re diving into iOS 18’s “inactivity reboot.” Also - a North Korean phishing attack aimed at Macs that is so easy to thwart, plus NordPass is out with its list of the most common passwords of 2024 - and they’re even worse than you might imagine. 

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The NosillaCast Podcast’s Allison Sheridan joins host Ken Ray to talk about Apple’s password management app - cleverly called “Passwords.” Her thinking on the app has evolved. She'll tell us why on Checklist No. 399 - brought to you by SecureMac.

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Even if you’ve never been a United Health customer and even if you’ve never heard of Change Healthcare - you can be a victim of the Change Healthcare data breach! Just ask show host Ken Ray! He had to learn firsthand about credit freezes this week - learning he will share with us on Checklist No. 398, brought to you by SecureMac.

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We are under two weeks from this year’s election - after which, there may be danger. The intelligence community is tracking plans by foreign actors to incite violence in the U.S. between now and Inauguration Day. We will look at what they’re seeing and how we might avoid it. Plus - updates from Apple next week. We’ll talk about why you should download them with singing! It's all on Checklist No. 397, brought to you by SecureMac.

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We’re following up on two of the biggest data breach stories in the last year - the loss of data on millions by 23andMe and on hundreds of millions by National Public Data. What 23andMe might do next is shocking, while the behind-the-scenes story of NPD is baffling. We’ll hit it all on Checklist No. 396, brought to to you by SecureMac.

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SecureMac.com/Checklist

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[email protected]