AppleInsider - New malware strain stealing business data from Intel Macs
Malware called “MetaStealer” is being used by hackers to attack businesses and to steal data from Intel-based Macs, with techniques including posing as legitimate app installers.
Malware attacks against macOS continue to be a problem, with users being coerced into opening executables being the main reason the attacks are successful. In a report detailing a family of macOS “infostealers” referred to as “MetaStealer,” security researchers explain how it works by tricking users into opening disk images.
According to Phil Stokes of SentinelOne, MetaStealer attackers are targeting businesses running macOS systems. By pretending to be fake clients, victims are socially engineered into running the malicious payloads on their Mac.
Many samples supplied to SentinelOne reveal that the disk image file holding the payload was often given names that could be of interest to business users. This ranges from names for presentations, a “Concept A3 full menu with dishes and translations to English,” and “Conract for paymen & confidentiality agreement Lucasprod” [sic], to the names of installers for Adobe products like Photoshop.
It is believed that targeting business users directly is an unusual move for malware users, as it is typically distributed in mass ways, such as in fake torrents.
The effort to achieve an installation is also made harder for hackers by a number of ways. Since the disk image contains the bare minimum content to exist beyond the payload, the file also tends to not include an Apple Developer ID string, nor use code signing at all, nor ad-hoc signing.
These create extra obstacles, namely that attackers have to somehow convince the would-be victim to override Gatekeeper and OCSP. All of the collected samples are single-architecture Intel x86_64 binaries, so while they would be usable on Intel Macs directly, they would need to use Rosetta to run on Apple Silicon Macs.
While users should be vigilant and use caution when opening questionable files sent by others, or downloaded from unofficial sources, Apple has already introduced some protective measures. As part of XProtect update x2170, Apple includes a detection signature that impacts some versions of MetaStealer.
SentinelOne has also released a list of Indicators of Compromise, intended for use by IT and security teams working for enterprise, which follows below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 09-22-2023, 02:16 PM - Forum: Windows
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Microsoft - Today, we are announcing Copilot, our vision for an everyday AI companio
Satya, this is an exciting vision for bringing helpful and responsible AI to Microsoft’s products. The seamless integration of Copilot across Windows, Office 365, Bing and Edge represents a major strategic investment in the future of AI. By baking it deeply into Microsoft’s daily solutions for consumers and businesses, you are positioning the company to lead and shape the coming AI revolution. If executed responsibly, Copilot could redefine how we interact with technology and transform human capabilities. It points to a future where AI assumes a collaborative, assisting role in our work and lives. Of course, it will be critical that Microsoft sets the highest bars for AI safety, ethics and transparency as Copilot scales up. But the promise is enormous, and this technology could help unlock new levels of human productivity and creativity. Kudos to you and the team on this ambitious effort to put Microsoft at the forefront of our AI future. I’m excited to see Copilot and your expanded AI vision come to life for customers.
Today’s Pre-Release showcases the changes being made to rebalance Villager Trading as well as some changes to loot. If you want to check out the snapshot yourself be sure to enable snapshots within your Minecraft Launcher in the Installations tab.
The Recipe Book search has been updated with the following changes:
The search will only match the beginning of any word in the item’s name
For example, searching for “tor” will still show Torch and Redstone Torch but not Daylight Detector anymore
All recipes, including those that have not been unlocked, will now show up in search results
This will enable experienced players to find the recipes they are looking for (even if it hasn’t been unlocked yet) without overwhelming new players
Updated structure icons on explorer maps sold by Cartographers
When villagers unlock new trades, the order of those trades in the UI is now always random instead of sometimes being deterministic
The data pack version is now 18
Client options are now sent during the configuration network phase when joining a server
Data Pack Version 18
This data pack version removes the recently introduced execute if function and return run functionality. Flaws with those commands (see bugs MC-264595, MC-264699, and MC-264710) require some substantial changes to fix, which we do not want to make close to a release.
These commands will instead be reintroduced early in the next snapshot series when we can take the time to iterate on and test them together with pack makers.
Removed execute if|unless function command form
Removed return run command form
Numbers used as macro arguments are now always inserted without suffixes, regardless of numeric type
Added game rule enderPearlsVanishOnDeath, controlling whether thrown ender pearls vanish when the player that threw them dies (default true)
Villager Trade Rebalance Part 2
This pre-release updates the Villager Trade Rebalance experiment. This experiment has no effect on normal worlds. If you want to try these changes, you must turn on the Feature Toggle in the Experiments Menu when creating a new world. You can find more information about Feature Toggles here.
Thank you to everyone who has sent in their suggestions and feedback regarding the experimental trade change! We are trying out these changes to rebalance the villager trade system and make it more fair and fun for everyone. However, these changes are not yet final, and they will stay as experimental features while we continue to work on them. We appreciate your feedback on these changes. Visit this link to share your thoughts! We have been following the discussions about the previous Librarian and Wandering Trader updates and look forward to seeing the conversation continue.
Cartographer
Before now, Cartographers only sold maps to the Ocean Monument and Woodland Mansion. In this experiment, Cartographers can sell seven new maps as well. These new maps each point to a different village or structure and can be used to find seven different biomes. This will help players who want to quickly find a specific location without waiting until they come across it by chance.
Cartographers from different biomes will sell a different selection of maps. Starting from one village, it will be possible to find every other village type by following maps from village to village.
Cartographers now sell 7 new maps: Desert Village Map, Jungle Explorer Map, Plains Village Map, Savanna Village Map, Snow Village Map, Swamp Explorer Map, and Taiga Village Map.
Armorer
The Armorer’s trades have been updated with many changes.
The biggest change is that buying diamond armor now requires paying a small amount of Diamonds as well as Emeralds. This is meant to make the Armorer’s diamond armor trades less useful at the start of the game when players don’t have any Diamonds, while still giving a powerful advantage to advanced players who have spent some time collecting Diamonds.
Early-game players will find Armorers useful as a great source of iron armor, Shields, and Emeralds.
Other changes include:
Most master-level Armorers buy Iron Blocks (and pay very well for them)
Chainmail armor is exclusively sold by the secret Jungle and Swamp Armorers
The Savanna Armorers sells cursed diamond armor at reduced prices
The Taiga Armorer can swap one piece of diamond armor for another
Structure Loot
Certain Enchanted Books now have a high chance of generating in some structures:
Ancient Cities: Mending
Mineshafts: Efficiency (I to V)
Pillager Outposts: Quick Charge (I to III)
Desert Temples: Unbreaking (I to III)
Jungle Temples: Unbreaking (I to III)
MC-70127 – Some block state changes aren’t communicated to clients
MC-72721 – Chat messages show after death independent of the chat setting
MC-103800 – Sometimes armor stands won’t update their visual rotation
MC-119873 – The text used for the credits button within the title screen is untranslatable
MC-154827 – Typo in splash text “Verlet intregration!”
MC-177172 – Dash in villager/trader UI is hardcoded / untranslatable
MC-248778 – The item count symbol within the shulker box tooltips is untranslatable
MC-248833 – The parentheses used before and after the warning label within the language menu are untranslatable
MC-248844 – The page indicator symbol within the recipe book GUI is untranslatable
MC-248846 – The colon used within the death screen to show the player’s score is untranslatable
MC-249355 – The hyphen used within the statistics menu to show a null value is untranslatable
MC-252295 – The word “whilst” within several death messages isn’t spelled in American English
MC-252298 – Death messages relating to the Thorns enchantment don’t contain conjunctions where appropriate
MC-252316 – The word “burnt” within some death messages isn’t spelled in American English
MC-253241 – The player count indicator symbol within the multiplayer menu is untranslatable
MC-253269 – The advancement progress indicator symbol within the advancements menu is untranslatable
MC-253270 – The hyphen used within boss bars for raids is untranslatable
MC-253278 – The percentage symbol used within the level loading screen to show the loading progress of the world is untranslatable
MC-253281 – Text within filled map tooltips when advanced tooltips are hidden is untranslatable
MC-253283 – The percentage and chunk indicator symbols used within the optimize world menu are untranslatable
MC-253638 – The symbols used within shulker box tooltips to show random loot table contents are untranslatable
MC-255418 – Vertical redstone dust placed against dropper/dispenser/hopper doesn’t visually disappear when the dust above is removed
MC-256777 – The two characters used within the tab list to show players’ health are untranslatable
MC-260819 – The “death.attack.message_too_long” string is missing an article before the word “stripped”
MC-263133 – Inconsistent word usage in Out of Memory screen
MC-264233 – The player is shown as Anonymous after dying and respawning
MC-264574 – symlink does not work for the root world folder
MC-264615 – It takes several seconds for the absorption effect icon to display after obtaining the effect
MC-264656 – Regular golden apples don’t increase the number of gold hearts if you previously ate an enchanted golden apple and then took damage
MC-264657 – Absorption gold heart refilling is determined by whether the low level and the high level have the same hideParticles parameter
MC-264658 – Only integer numeric data type can be used in macro
MC-264809 – Redstone comparators cause redstone dust connection issue
MC-265053 – Programmer Art lapis lazuli outline texture in enchanting table UI incorrectly uses the old formatting
MC-265060 – Missing sprite for error in Loom GUI (loom.png)
MC-265126 – The ‘requirements’ field can no longer be skipped in advancements
MC-265151 – The “(Unknown)” string that’s displayed when being banned from a server for an unknown reason is untranslatable
MC-265209 – Switching to protocol “CONFIGURATION” causes race condition
MC-265213 – The chat message from the /random command says “between 1 and 6” instead of “1 to 6”
The release will also come wit a bunch of special content, so let’s see what Capcom has in store of us:
– Orchestra Hall – The soundtracks of all three games plus 14 select tracks from the Ace Attorney 15th Anniversary Orchestra Concert and the Ace Attorney 2019 Orchestra Concert make for a total of 175 tracks. Watch the new chibi character illustrations dance along to the music as you enjoy your favorite songs. – Art Library – This library is chock full of character designs, background art, and even the special prologue anime for Spirit of Justice. We’ve never included so much! Original art commissioned for this collection can also be found here! – Animation Studio – Freely create the scene of your dreams with character models and animations, background music, and voiced lines from the games—all at your fingertips. Place characters in situations unthinkable in the main games! – Special Episodes and Costumes – Special Episodes and costumes that were only available as pre-order specials or paid content are included in this collection. Play with special costumes on for even wackier trials. Enjoy the two Special Episodes from Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, “Turnabout Reclaimed” and “Turnabout Time Traveler.” An unusual client and some familiar faces make these must-play episodes for any Ace Attorney fan!
Will you be picking up Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy in the new year? Please present your case to the court in the comments section below.
News - Great Sword! Monster Hunter Now downloads reach five million
We know people love Monster Hunter, but the absolutely – ahem – monster amount of Monster Hunter Now downloads is still something of a surprise. Niantic and Capcom announced recently that Monster Hunter Now has reached over 5 million downloads in its first week, an absolutely whopping number and a great start for the mobile spin-off.
To celebrate, Niantic is giving fans a bonus package that includes 5,000 Zenny and two free paintballs. Simply use one of the brand new Monster Hunter Now codes to get access to it. Alongside this, Niantic revealed the first Monster Hunter Now event, as the Diablos Invasion event hits players this weekend on September 23, 2023, and September 24, 2023. The event runs from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm local time on both days.
During the event, Diablos appears more frequently in desert regions. Plus, time-limited event quests are active, asking you to complete new missions, such as snapping a picture of Diablos using the AR mode within Monster Hunter Now. You can learn more about the Diablos Invasion event at the Monster Hunter Now website.
If you want to get a glimpse of the exciting mobile game in action, you can check out the Monster Hunter Now trailer below.
There you have it, hunters, that’s all we have on those huge Monster Hunter Now downloads for today. If you’re diving in and need some tips, be sure to check our guides covering the Monster Hunter Now weapons and the Monster Hunter Now monsters as well.
AppleInsider - Automated fraud protections tuned up to make Apple Savings withdrawal
Apple’s first savings account for customers
After a tumultuous period between Apple and Apple Card partner Goldman Sachs involving Apple Savings customer withdrawals, the issues appear to be mostly solved with loosened anti-fraud protections.
Shortly after Apple Savings launched, there were a flurry of customers complaining that it was difficult or impossible to extract money from the high-interest savings account. It’s been relatively quiet on that front for months — but apparently Goldman Sachs has resolved at least some of the systemic issues leading to problems.
The report on late Friday by The Information claims that the automated fraud detection systems are now less likely to flag transactions with small volumes to an outside account. Furthermore, Goldman Sachs has also reduced the number of days it says a transaction should take, and is said to be communicating with consumers better if there are issues, instead of not telling customers at all, and allowing time to tick by instead.
An Apple Savings customer representative cited in the report says that transfers shouldn’t take weeks or months, but if they are, the system, has flagged a large transfer because the bank is being cautious about unauthorized users. This is said to be alleviated some by a three-way call between the call center, the customer, and the bank selected to take the withdrawal.
After the April launch, the saga started with a report in June. Nathan Thacker said that he’d been trying to withdraw $1,700 from his Apple Savings account to his JPMorgan Chase account since May 15. However, upon calling Goldman Sachs’ customer service department, he was told that the money would be in his account in a few more days.
The money was finally posted to his account on June 1, more than two weeks after he initiated the transfer.
Thacker wasn’t the only one who has noticed issues, either. Some customers said that upon initiating the transfer, the money seemingly vanishes. The disappeared money didn’t show up in either their Apple account or the bank account they were trying to move it to.
In another example, a man from Minnesota had attempted to transfer $10,000 from his Apple account to a U.S. bank on May 16. The money was flagged for security review, leaving it in limbo until the review was finished.
Goldman Sachs went on record at the time saying that most customers do not see any delays. The ones that do, however, see them because of behind-the-scenes processes that have been put in place to protect customers’ accounts.
New accounts, such as those opened by Apple Card owners, may trigger anti-money-laundering alerts. The transfers must then be manually approved. On average, these delays take about five days.
Delays were longer for those who transferred money to an account that differed from the account the money originally came from.
Still, despite this, Apple Savings has done quite well for itself. The first week of Apple Savings proved Apple’s ecosystem strength with more than 240,000 new accounts being created and nearly $1 billion in deposits being made.
It’s not clear how strong the relationship between Apple and Goldman Sachs is, beyond contractually. Reportedly, Goldman Sachs is looking for an exit on the Apple Card and Apple Savings deal.
News - Disney Speedstorm’s Aladdin-Inspired Season Moves Off The Start Line Next W
Image: Gameloft
Just as Disney Speedstorm prepares to leave early access and speed into the free-to-play realm next week, publisher Gameloft has today announced that it will be marking the occasion with the start of a new Aladdin-themed season on 28th September.
Much like the previous Lilo and Stitch-inspired chapter, the upcoming Season 4 will be introducing us to a whole new world (sorry) with four new racers — Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie and Jafar — a new ‘Cave of Wonders’ course and we’d expect a helping of new customisation options and crew members too.
Gameloft previously announced that Disney Speedstorm will be leaving early access on 28th September too, so it’s likely that Aladdin and co. will be the first faces that many of us see when we get to try out the free-to-play racer next week. To ensure that you are up to date on all of the available drivers before this launch, you can check out our complete character guide below.
Are you excited to take Disney Speedstorm for a spin next week? Drive down to the comments and let us know.
