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Apple-losing-its-edge

Is Apple losing its edge?

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Apple laptops and desktops are often the favourite hardware for businesses, partly for quality and partly because they have always been seen as largely hack-proof.

But a recent problem has caused some technical writers to question whether the “big A” is beginning to lose its edge.

A flaw was discovered in the most recent version of MacOS High Sierra, that enabled anyone to enter the machine without a password.

The bug was discovered in late November by a Turkish developer, who discovered that entering the username “root” and leaving the password field blank, hitting “enter” a few times, he could gain access to the machine.

The vulnerability, which fortunately could not be used remotely, could give someone with root access more powers than a normal user, for example to read and write files to other accounts.

More seriously a superuser with root access and with malicious intent could have deleted crucial system files, rendering the computer useless – or install malware that might be undetectable to typical security software.

Apple issued a temporary workaround by allowing users to set a root password while it fixed the problem.

The instructions are here

However, according to the tech publication WIRED, there were more problems when Apple rushed out a patch, within 18 hours, and users discovered that the “root” bug returned if they updated to the 10.13.1, version.  The machine had to be re-booted for the patch to work, but Apple had not included this in the instructions.

High Sierra before you update

Before updating to High Sierra, what to know

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Apple’s new OS system

Many businesses will use Apple computers believing that the technology is far superior and less vulnerable to hacking and viruses.

However, reviewers of the latest version of the operating system, MacOS High Sierra, warn Mac users to wait a while before installing it and to make sure they do an external back-up before they begin.

According to The Independent tech reviewer Andrew Griffin, in late September, there are two main reasons to wait a few days before installing: “the risks are much higher and the rewards are much less interesting.”

The danger is that in installation, he says, cherished pictures and other data could be lost, and this will be a catastrophe if the installation is on the owner’s main computer.

The High Sierra system has completely revamped the way files are stored with the intention of speeding up some computer tasks. But the question is whether the new system is quite glitch-free.

MacWorld’s Dominic Preston has compared the High Sierra Version with the previous Sierra version and concluded that it isn’t “the most exciting” MacOS upgrade.

On the subject of the revamped file system MacWorld’s review says:

“First of all, copying files and finding the size of files and folders should now be near-instantaneous, the sort of small improvement that will add up over long-term use.

It also helps keep files safe thanks to built-in encryption, data protection for power outages and system crashes, and simplified data backup. It’s also compatible with HFS drives and data so you shouldn’t lost anything during the upgrade – though we’d still always recommend a backup first.”

There have been tweaks to Safari to prevent auto-playing videos and include tracking prevention. There have also been tweaks to mail and messages.

Preston’s conclusion is that there is little reason to not upgrade to High Sierra, but he, too recommends a back-up just in case.