Mario called the meeting to order at 7:30pm. Bob S, Bob H, Ed, Wes, Randy, Mario, Jenny, David, Richard, Fred, Bill, and John were the attendees.
Bob Shayler told the group about being “hacked” on Facebook on his iPhone. He logged in using the Safari mobile browser and noticed his name and his profile picture were different, and he hadn’t changed it. To fix it, Bob deleted the Facebook iOS app, changed his Facebook password, told Facebook to no longer trust those apps (dropdown in the far right > Settings > Your Browsers and Apps), and downloaded Facebook for iOS fresh from the App Store. He then turned off the auto-login for the Facebook app.
- This could have been malware, though it’s unlikely, given Apple has patched known vulnerabilities, and Bob’s iPhone is up to date.
- More likely, this was a phishing scam: though Bob typed it in the address bar, he could’ve accidentally gone to a website that wasn’t really Facebook, and seen a profile that wasn’t really his. When he logged in on his computer, he saw his normal photo and name, indicating it hadn’t really been changed in Facebook. He also saw a message on “Facebook” about malware detected on his device, which is a classic phishing scam and something not normally seen on Facebook.
Tips to prevent this from happening to you:
- Keep your iOS devices locked (require a password immediately after locking the screen).
- Use HTTPS when logging in to a website (it will keep the entire transaction secure with one server).
- Use trusted wifi networks so your traffic isn’t intercepted. Even cellular traffic isn’t technically secure.
- Don’t use the same password for multiple systems, or at least important ones: “Don’t let your bank account get popped because someone knows your Twitter password. That would make for a bad day.”
Deborah told us the SLHS graphics lab is being updated this summer to machines running OS X El Capitan. Deborah wants to get ready by using El Cap over the summer. Should she buy a new Macbook Pro now, or upgrade her 2009 Macbook Pro to El Cap and wait until there are updated machines?
Rumors about the new computer:
- Touch-sensitive OLED bar instead of the row of function keys.
- Potentially has Touch ID for unlock.
- It will have USB-C instead of standard USB, display and power, and will have the “butterfly” keys like the Macbook’s keyboard.
- Likely not available until Q4 2016 (late September; before the holiday season, but after the start of the school year).
The group consensus was:
- Definitely wait at least until WWDC on June 13th before buying anything. They don’t typically announce new Mac hardware at WWDC, but the event is a good time for updates in general, and it’s only two weeks away.
- Deborah’s current computer does meet the hardware requirements, so it is possible to install El Cap. (First run Disk Utility and Onyx before doing a backup, and do a backup before upgrading from 10.6.8 to 10.11.5)
- There’s good hardware now, there will be better hardware in the future. But there will always be better hardware. If you need the computer now, get it now, but if you can wait, wait.
Ed has a Disc of the Month that includes the latest 10.11.5 Combo Updater.
The next meeting will be a summer potluck dinner at John and Nancy Mitchell’s house in August, exact date and time TBD.