![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Install-minor-updates.png\")
<\/p>\nIt seems like Apple releases updates to iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS nearly every week these days. It has been only a few months since iOS 11 and macOS 10.13 High Sierra launched, and we\u2019ve already seen ten updates to iOS and seven updates to macOS. Some of these have been to fix bugs, which is great, but quite a few have been prompted by the need for Apple to address security vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Have you installed all these updates, or have you been procrastinating, tapping that Later link on the iPhone and rejecting your Mac\u2019s notifications? We\u2019re not criticizing\u2014all too often those prompts come at inconvenient times, although iOS has gotten better about installing during the night, as long as you plug in your iPhone or iPad.<\/p>\n
We know, security is dull. Or rather, security is dull as long as it\u2019s present. Things get exciting\u2014and not in a good way\u2014when serious vulnerabilities come to light. That\u2019s what happened in November 2017, when it was reported that anyone could gain admin access to any Mac running High Sierra by typing root<\/em> for the username and leaving the password field blank. That one was so bad that Apple pushed Security Update 2017-001 to every affected Mac and rolled the fix into macOS 10.13.2.<\/p>\n Part of the problem with security vulnerabilities is that they can be astonishingly complex. You may have heard about the Meltdown and Spectre hardware vulnerabilities discovered in January 2018. They affect nearly all modern computers, regardless of operating system, because they take advantage of a design flaw in the microprocessors. Unfortunately, the bad guys\u2014organized crime, government intelligence agencies, and the like\u2014have the resources to understand and exploit these flaws.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s the thing. Security is an arms race, with attackers trying to take advantage of vulnerabilities and operating system companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google proactively working to block them with updates. If enough people install those updates quickly enough, the attackers will move on to the next vulnerability.<\/p>\n The moral of the story? Always install those minor updates. It\u2019s not so much because you will definitely be targeted if you fail to stay up to date, but because if the Apple community as a whole ceases to be vigilant about upgrading, the dark forces on the Internet will start to see macOS and iOS as low-hanging fruit. As long as most people update relatively quickly, it\u2019s not worthwhile for attackers to put a lot of resources into messing with Macs, iPhones, and iPads.<\/p>\n That said, before you install those updates, make sure to update your backups. It\u2019s unusual for anything significant to go wrong during this sort of system upgrade, but having a fresh backup ensures that if anything does go amiss, you can easily get back to where you were before.<\/p>\n Social Media:<\/b> PSA: For all our sakes, please install Apple\u2019s operating system updates so the bad guys don\u2019t start targeting Macs and iOS devices with malware like they do Windows and Android. Read more at:<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It seems like Apple releases updates to iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS nearly every week these days. It has been only a few months since iOS 11 and macOS 10.13 High Sierra launched, and we\u2019ve already seen ten updates to iOS and seven updates to macOS. Some of these have been to fix bugs, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[157,193,66,39,71,48,52,5,86,105,196,124,271,340,272],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apple-pros","category-apros-archive","category-article","category-blog","category-explainer","category-ios","category-iphone","category-mac","category-macos","category-maintenance","category-restricted-content","category-security","category-tvos","category-updates","category-watchos"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Install-minor-updates.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6YLEm-7am","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27017,"url":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/when-should-you-upgrade-to-macos-10-13-high-sierra-ios-11-watchos-4-and-tvos-11\/","url_meta":{"origin":27550,"position":0},"title":"When Should You Upgrade to macOS 10.13 High Sierra, iOS 11, watchOS 4, and tvOS 11?","author":"computeradv","date":"September 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"To every thing there is a season, and we\u2019re fast approaching the time when Apple harvests the fruit of the last year and releases new versions of macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS. There are no major surprises here, since Apple announced the new versions in June and public betas have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple Pros"","block_context":{"text":"Apple Pros","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/apple-pros\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/when-should-you-upgrade-2017-high-sierra.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/when-should-you-upgrade-2017-high-sierra.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/when-should-you-upgrade-2017-high-sierra.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/when-should-you-upgrade-2017-high-sierra.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27892,"url":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/what-os-version-are-you-running-heres-how-to-find-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":27550,"position":1},"title":"What OS Version Are You Running? Here\u2019s How to Find Out.","author":"computeradv","date":"June 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In Troubleshooting 101, one of the first questions is always, \u201cWhat version of the operating system are you running?\u201d There\u2019s a big difference between Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and macOS 10.13 High Sierra, and the solution to any particular problem will likely revolve around knowing what operating system\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AirPods"","block_context":{"text":"AirPods","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/airpods\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Which-OS-Mac-1024x619.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Which-OS-Mac-1024x619.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Which-OS-Mac-1024x619.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1597,"url":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/apple-previews-new-operating-system-features-at-wwdc\/","url_meta":{"origin":27550,"position":2},"title":"Apple Previews New Operating System Features at WWDC","author":"computeradv","date":"June 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This fall, Apple users can look forward to exciting new features in macOS Sierra (the new name for OS X), iOS 10, watchOS 3, and tvOS 10. Read a roundup of the major changes on our blog.","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"macOS Sierra coming this fall","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Siri-Mac.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Siri-Mac.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Siri-Mac.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Siri-Mac.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26504,"url":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/4-new-apple-os-features-you-can-use-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":27550,"position":3},"title":"4 New Apple OS Features You Can Use Today","author":"computeradv","date":"April 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Once you\u2019ve updated to Apple\u2019s latest\u2014iOS 10.3, macOS 10.12.4, and watchOS 3.2\u2014you\u2019ll want to read this article.","rel":"","context":"In "AirPods"","block_context":{"text":"AirPods","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/airpods\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Apple March 2017 OS updates","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/March-OS-release-features-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/March-OS-release-features-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/March-OS-release-features-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/March-OS-release-features-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/March-OS-release-features-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30928,"url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/what-we-can-expect-from-macos-11-0-big-sur-ios-14-ipados-14-and-watchos-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":27550,"position":4},"title":"What We Can Expect from macOS 11.0 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7","author":"computeradv","date":"August 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"At its Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple showed off the next versions of its major operating systems: macOS 11.0 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7. Here\u2019s what you can expect this fall.","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/what-we-can-expect-from-macos-11-0-big-sur-ios-14-ipados-14-and-watchos-7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/what-we-can-expect-from-macos-11-0-big-sur-ios-14-ipados-14-and-watchos-7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/what-we-can-expect-from-macos-11-0-big-sur-ios-14-ipados-14-and-watchos-7.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/what-we-can-expect-from-macos-11-0-big-sur-ios-14-ipados-14-and-watchos-7.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/what-we-can-expect-from-macos-11-0-big-sur-ios-14-ipados-14-and-watchos-7.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27923,"url":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/sneak-preview-of-whats-coming-from-apple-this-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":27550,"position":5},"title":"Sneak Preview of What\u2019s Coming from Apple This Fall","author":"computeradv","date":"June 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"At Apple\u2019s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote on June 4th, the company unveiled the first developer versions of all four of its operating systems: macOS 10.14 Mojave, iOS 12, watchOS 5, and tvOS 12. They won\u2019t be available until this fall, likely in September or October, but here is a glimpse\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple Pros"","block_context":{"text":"Apple Pros","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/apple-pros\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/WWDC-2018-Stacks-1024x789.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/WWDC-2018-Stacks-1024x789.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/WWDC-2018-Stacks-1024x789.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/WWDC-2018-Stacks-1024x789.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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