Don’t FREAK out – Apple has fixed their vulnerabilities

Apple FREAK vulnerabilities fixed There’s a major web encryption flaw that has been documented and widely covered in the media which permits a “man in the middle” type attack to occur from your web browser

How does it work? It allows an attacker to intercept HTTPS traffic between vulnerable clients and servers, and then forces them to use an export-grade cryptography, which can then be decrypted and/or altered.

Who does it affect? Well, end users who are utilizing common browsers such as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Google Chrome on Mac OS and Android, Safari on Mac OS and iOS, Blackberry Browser and Opera on Mac OS and Linux.

Fortunately, on Monday 2015-03-09, Apple addressed these issues and patches are available.

iOS 8.2 addresses this in your iPhone and iPad, and you should not hesitate to update.  One word of caution however: If you are using an iPad 2/3 and opt to update from iOS 7x to 8.2 to fix this issue, you may experience extremely poor performance from your older iPad. The trade off is that you will be secure, but you might not enjoy the user experience. Also, you can NOT go backwards from iOS 8x to iOS 7x.

It is reported that ALL versions of Microsoft Windows operating system are vulnerable to FREAK, but no update yet. Expect an “out of band” solution to be released any minute to help the hundreds of millions of PC users to say safe out there.

If you question the security of your PC or your business network and are in the Greenville, or Upstate SC area, please call upon us or use this CONTACT FORM. Computer technical support is what we do! 864.990.4748.

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