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Andrew Orr

Since 2015 Andrew has been writing about Apple, privacy, security, and at one point even Android. You can find him most places online under the username @andrewornot.

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Articles by Andrew Orr

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Avira Antivirus Crypto Miner is Also a Thing, Following Norton

Andrew Orr ·

Following Norton, Avira Antivirus crypto miner is also a thing now, as the company is owned by NortonLifeLock.

Not only does Norton press gang your system into mining Etherium [sic], they take a 15% cut off the top for doing so, though at least they let you keep the rest; whether you know it or not. The problem is that antivirus programs are supposed to prevent you from unwittingly mining cryptcoin for others, not actively recruit you for it. This might not seem bad at first glance, as they give you a dashboard which shows just how much money you could theoretically get if you cashed in the Etherium [sic] them made you mind.

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T-Mobile Blocks iCloud Private Relay for Customers in United States

Andrew Orr ·

It appears that carriers in the U.S. and aboard aren’t happy with iCloud Private Relay. The setting, released with iOS 15, likely interferes with surveillance of customers. A report from 9To5Mac says that T-Mobile has begun blocking the feature.

The change does not appear to be network-wide just yet, but rather it appears T-Mobile is in the process of rolling it out. This means that some users might still be able to use iCloud Private Relay when connected to their cellular network – at least for now.

Very shady behavior. I haven’t been using Private Relay because it overrides my DNS. The good news is that carriers can’t prevent you from changing your DNS settings.

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Cheech & Chong Launch NFT Collection Dubbed 'Homies in Dreamland'

Andrew Orr ·

This is a bit of old news but I hadn’t seen it until today. Cheech & Chong are launching a brand for collectibles called My Homies. The first series will be an NFT collection called Homies in Dreamland.

The “Homies in Dreamland” collection will release January of 2022. The holders of the NFT art collectible will gain access to a variety of utility, including future airdrops and special access/utility tokens randomly inserted throughout the collection. To-be-announced benefits will be attached to the tokens like merchandise, autographed items, and airdrops of art by Billy Perkins, who has a long-time association with Cheech and Chong.

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Swiss Army Seeks Private Messenger 'Threema' Over WhatsApp

Andrew Orr ·

Switzerland’s army told its soldiers not to use foreign messengers such as WhatsApp, due to privacy concerns. Instead, the recommendation is to use private messenger Threema, a Swiss app.

Army spokeswoman Delphine Schwab-Allemand, in an e-mail on Wednesday confirming reports on the issue in Swiss media, seemed to soften the army’s position, saying that there was a “recommendation” that troops use Threema. It took effect on Jan. 1. She added that the army cannot and does not want to tell troops to use a particular app on their private devices.

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Twitter Reaction Videos Being Tested With Retweets on Platform

Andrew Orr ·

TechCrunch reports that Twitter reaction videos are being tested as a new way to engage with the platform.

Twitter says it’s only running the test with a small subset of iOS users for now and will monitor feedback from the group to see how the feature goes. The company says it wants to give users “more creative ways to express themselves” which tracks with its generally experimental vibe lately.

I get that companies need to compete with each other but not everything has to copy TikTok.

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Dapper Labs First NFT Company to Register as Lobbyist for US Government

Andrew Orr ·

Vancouver-based Dapper Labs has recruited Crossroads Strategies as a lobbying firm. The NFT company is the first of its kind to do so.

The company reported that it would lobby for “Policy related to NFTs, blockchain and financial services.” Aside from recruiting a lobbying firm, Dapper Labs also recruited Alison Kutler as its new head of government affairs back in November 2021. Kutler is the former chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau and special advisor to the chairman of the FCC from June 2015 to Apr 2017.

‘PDF Expert’ for iOS Lets You Convert PDFs to Word, More
Cool Stuff Found

'PDF Expert' for iOS Lets You Convert PDFs to Word, More

Andrew Orr ·

PDF Expert’s latest update lets you convert PDFs to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, JPG, PNG, TXT, and other formats. The built-in PDF converter is a part of the PDF Expert PRO subscription at US$49.99/year. The PRO subscription also allows you to edit the text and images in PDFs, sign documents, redact sensitive data, and more. The current PDF Expert PRO subscribers get the new converting functionality at no extra cost.

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Norton Antivirus Now Includes a Crypto Miner in its Software

Andrew Orr ·

Norton antivirus has added a cryptocurrency miner to its software that it takes a 15% commission on. The link to the FAQ can be found below.

Update: This has been updated to include a quote from a NortonLifeLock spokesperson. They want to mention that it’s an opt-in feature: “Norton Crypto is an opt-in feature only and is not enabled without user permission.”

There is also a way to opt-out if you let it mine crypto but you changed your mind. However, it’s a bit more complicated than turning a toggle off:

“If users have turned on Norton Crypto but no longer wish to use the feature, it can be disabled through Norton 360 by temporarily shutting off “tamper protection” (which allows users to modify the Norton installation) and deleting NCrypt.exe from your computer.”

Today on The Mac Observer‘s Daily Observations podcast, we mentioned several free alternatives to Norton that don’t include a crypto miner.

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Video Piracy Site 'Popcorn Time' Shuts Down

Andrew Orr ·

Popcorn Time, a popular piracy website for movies and TV shows that once put Netflix on alert, has shut down.

On Tuesday, the group behind the app emailed reporters declaring its end. A goodbye note posted by Popcorn Time, with an illustration of a bag of movie-theater popcorn with X marks for eyes, proclaims “R.I.P.” at the top of the page. The site also contains a chart of interest over time measured in online searches for the app, similar to the one Netflix sent to investors in 2015.

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Recap: Here is the Mac Malware List for 2021

Andrew Orr ·

Security researcher Patrick Wardle made a list of the Mac malware we saw in 2021. It’s a timeline with information on each.

While the specimens may have been reported on before (i.e. by the AV company that discovered them), this blog aims to cumulatively and comprehensively cover all the new Mac malware of 2021 – in one place …yes, with samples of each malware available for download!

After reading this blog post, you should have a thorough understanding of recent threats targeting macOS. This is especially important as Apple continues to make significant inroads into the enterprise.