back to article SAP bug beatdowns, Apple gets nasty with Mac repairs, Struts woe, and more from infosec

This week we all worried about bugged servers, North Korean APTs, and GRU hacking groups. But those were far from the only security stories to hit the wires. Here are a handful of other pieces that may have slipped under the radar. Marketing firm parts with massive trove of customer data The last time an Apollo effort went …

  1. Dan 55 Silver badge

    Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

    Can't wait for the video.

    This is why Hackintosh is the way forward. Want an iMac or Mac Mini? Buy a NUC (Skull Canyons are going cheap) or a compatible desktop and Hackintosh it.

    Want a laptop? By a similar one for half the price and Hackintosh it.

    Computers aren't disposable devices, you don't use them until one thing on the board dies and then throw it away and buy a new one. They're upgradable over time and repairable. As much at Apple like to greenwash it, they're environmentally unfriendly as well as a waste of money.

    1. Waseem Alkurdi

      Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

      Hackintosh isn't always a solution.

      It is illegal (because you're violating an agreement, though this yet has to be contested for individuals) and unethical (because you're violating an agreement, again).

      (My laptops all ran macOS as Hackintoshes until Linux took over).

      Does the fact that they're asshole megacorps allow me and you to rob them, even if on a really small scale that doesn't harm them?

      Pretend that Apple is yours. Think of the problem from their perspective.

      Is it ethical to rob megacorps if they were evil?

      Or in other terms, was Robin Hood a hero?

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

        Violating an EULA isn't illegal, it's just violating an EULA. Apple would find it difficult to tie such a violation to a real person, and if they did would hardly go the to the extremes of taking them to a civil court due to a) bad publicity and b) the possibility of losing.

        The way Apple designs their devices (glue, disposable) is unethical, it generates far more electronic waste than necessary. The way Apple makes them hard to fix by owners and third parties is also unethical.

        If it turns out so many people run a Hackintosh system that it becomes a problem for them, then perhaps shows Apple they're doing something wrong. Any ethical corp would pick up on that.

        1. Waseem Alkurdi

          Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

          It's true that Apple's "ways" are grossly unethical, but is it ethical to punish unethicality by unethicality?

          Or, as I asked, were Robin Hood's actions ethical?

          1. Dan 55 Silver badge

            Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

            Well, as Linus (Rossmann) says, if you want Apple to stop doing this, you have to stop giving them your money for a while so they stop doing the things they do.

            Their hardware after 2012 is difficult or impossible to upgrade and repair so I just won't buy it until it is. I'll keep my current hardware until it fails completely, and if by that time Apple decide they want to bring out decent hardware again then I will buy it.

            If their OS had a retail value I might even buy a copy if/when I do set up a Hackintosh but as it doesn't, I won't. They stopped selling it in shops after 10.7 I think and not even they themselves believe they've lost anything otherwise they'd have taken someone to court in the past six or so years.

            So really, there's little ethical dilemma.

    2. Paul Crawford Silver badge

      Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

      At one point I was thinking about buying a Macbook Pro because they looked like welll engineered devices in spite of the hefty price tag. But then they dropped useful stuff for "pro" use like DVD drive, USB-2, RJ-45 network sockets, etc.

      Now they seem to be complete arsholes when it comes to repair or upgrading the device and I have been spending my money with the like of Entroware instead.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Thumb Up

        Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

        Entroware - good recommendation, thanks.

      2. Michael Hoffmann Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

        *sigh* my dream spec Athena comes in at AUD4K. Still less than a similarly configured Dell though - and you can't even *get* a Macbook with similar specs.

        It looks like they don't deliver o/s or am I DST-change-addled and blind?

        EDIT: alas, indeed:

        Entroware currently ships to the following territories using DPD:

        United Kingdom (Shipment service: next working day for UK mainland)

        Republic of Ireland

        France

        Germany

        Italy

        Spain

        1. Paul Crawford Silver badge

          Re: @Michael Hoffmann

          Entroware only claim to ship to UK/EU but it is worth asking them if you could do elsewhere. I suspect it is largely down to the effort of managing shipping/import duties versus the number of sales expected.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

      Imagine the uproar if a major car manufacturer mandated that your shiny new car can only be serviced and maintained by their own dealers and exclusively using their own original parts otherwise it will not work at all. And by that I mean not just major parts like the clutch, the alternator or something similar, but everything else such as brakes, suspension, spark plugs, tyres, drive belts, wiper blades, light bulbs, even the floor mats and the badge on the front. Every. Single. Thing.

      Normal (sane) people would refuse to even consider buying from them.

      But if it's a very, very shiny laptop or phone, they'll fall over themselves to get one as soon at it comes on the market.

      Apple truly is an idiot tax.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

        And here's the video: Apple's war on refurbishing.

        Well worth the 15 minutes.

      2. AMBxx Silver badge

        Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

        Car manufacturers used to do exactly that. To maintain your warranty you had to have servicing done at a main dealer for the first few years. It's no longer allowed, but only because the law changed.

        Didn't stop people buying cars, nor did one of the car makers break ranks to promote their flexibility.

      3. whoseyourdaddy

        Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

        "Imagine the uproar if a major car manufacturer mandated that your shiny new car can only be serviced and maintained by their own dealers and exclusively using their own original parts otherwise it will not work at all."

        Well, it sucks to be you.

        Car manufacturers have no choice but to do exactly this. You need to be a Volvo dealer to swap entire electrical boxes on models after 1998. Acura found out their customers were paying for high-theft rates when kids realized the souped up Acura engines could be swapped to a regular Honda Civic or Accord.

        Theft rates for a particular Camry model year escalate dramatically 8-12 years past their model years because they're enormously popular and expensive to rebuild the tranny.

        No car manufacturer wants to lose sales because their customers pay big bucks to the insurance company because of theft rates.

        Do you honestly think Tesla wants you rooting around in their cars?

        Even worse, try being an American farmer owning million dollar complex computerized crop equipment that can only be DIAGNOSED by a factory tech while your harvest window is closing down on you. YouTube it. Farmers have to load something the size of a house on a truck and haul it to the dealer because it stopped moving.

        It's just not up to you just because you bought the device. If the key to market dominance is to make everything sleek and sexy with repair-ability as the only downfall, then it sucks to be you.

        I'm sorry ONLY Apple has stores all over the place offering factory service. Claims anyone outside that can do a better repair job, it just doesn't matter.

      4. DMcDonnell

        Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

        in the US we have the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act (enacted 1975).

        Recently the US FTC warned 6 companies about their warranty practices/conditions.

        ---

        Each company used different language, but here are examples of questionable provisions:

        The use of [company name] parts is required to keep your . . . manufacturer’s warranties and any extended warranties intact.

        This warranty shall not apply if this product . . . is used with products not sold or licensed by [company name].

        This warranty does not apply if this product . . . has had the warranty seal on the [product] altered, defaced, or removed.

        ---

      5. ridley

        Re: Wonder what Louis Rossmann thinks about Apple's dick move

        It is already here, Tesla's really don't like anyone other that Tesla repairing them.

  2. C. P. Cosgrove
    WTF?

    re Apple

    Huh ?

    I know I live a sheltered life and I don't have any Apple products but I thought this sort of thing was illegal. Or is that only for us fortunate souls living - for the time being - inside the EU ?

    Chris Cosgrove

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    Russian bot deluge, swatting

    Thought the Russian bot deluge that erupted prior to the 2016 election had come and gone .. This is particularly depressing as, with a crucial round of mid-term elections just a few weeks away.”

    So what you are saying is that the American people took more notice of random tweets rather than the conventional media such as CNN. Seriously though, I accidentally switched it on the other day and if this is what passes for ‘news’ no wonder they've moved to Twitter News©.

    The Seattle police are trying out a new program that would let people create profiles that would flag their residences and places of business as possible targets for "swatting" crimes.’

    How about the SWAT teams not move in with all guns ablazing or stop responding to anonymous phone calls?

    1. katrinab Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      Re: Russian bot deluge, swatting

      Maybe it will stop after someone SWATs a golf club in Mar a Lago?

  4. Adam 1

    I respectfully submit that any attempt to use such a "feature" in Australia will find things a tad awkward under the Australian Consumer Guarantees.

    Let me quote from page 1.

    "Products must also:

    ......

    * come with full title and ownership

    * not carry any hidden debts or extra charges

    * come with undisturbed possession, so no one has a right to take the goods away or prevent you from using them"

    Also, you don't need to deal with Apple to make a claim under this guarantee. It is your choice as to whether you talk to the retailer or the manufacturer or the importer.

  5. jaffa99

    Apple repairs

    "Basically it means Apple owns your device, not you, and could conceivably disable it remotely if they detect unauthorized repairs going on."

    I think that's a bit paranoid. More likely it's a mechanism that ensures the machine has not been tampered with. I wouldn't be surprised if this could be enabled on machines sold to some business or government to allow them to verify the integrity of the hardware in their machines as part of an overall digital security effort.

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