Month: February 2021

Enlarge / The update is available on supported Macs today. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Today, Apple released a small update to macOS Big Sur, numbered 11.2.1. Primarily, it fixes a problem affecting some MacBook Pro models that prevented their batteries from charging properly.

The update also fixed a sudo bug that could in some cases play a part in allowing an attacker to gain root access to the device, plus some other security-related updates.

Apple also released supplemental updates for Catalina 10.15.7 and Mojave 10.14.6 to address the same security issues.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

It’s the second Tuesday of February, and that means Microsoft and other software makers are releasing dozens of updates to fix security vulnerabilities. Topping off this month’s list are two zero-days under active exploit and critical networking flaws that allow attackers to remotely execute malicious code or shut down computers.

The most important patch fixes a code-execution flaw in Adobe Reader, which despite its long-in-the-tooth status remains widely used for viewing and working with PDF documents. CVE-2021-21017, as the critical vulnerability is tracked, stems from a heap-based buffer overflow. After being tipped off by an anonymous source, Adobe warned that the flaw has been actively exploited in limited attacks that target Reader users running Windows.

Adobe didn’t provide additional details about the vulnerability or the in-the-wild attacks exploiting it. Typically, hackers use specially crafted documents sent by email or published online to trigger the vulnerability and execute code that installs malware on the device running the application. Adobe’s use of the word “limited” likely means that the hackers are narrowly focusing their attacks on a small number of high-value targets.

Enlarge / Vintage engraving (1876) depicting the murderers of the "Princes in the Tower": King Edward V and his younger brother, Prince Richard, Duke of York. New evidence has emerged that Richard III did indeed order the murders. (credit: Getty Images)

England's King Richard III is at the center of one of the most famous assassination legends in history, immortalized in one of William Shakespeare's greatest tragedies. It's quite the tale: a power-hungry duke seizes the throne when his brother unexpectedly dies, and he orders his young nephews (one the rightful heir) murdered in the Tower of London to cement his claim to the throne. But was he really a murderer? The debate over Richard III's presumed guilt has continued for centuries. Now a British historian has compiled additional evidence of that guilt, described in a recent paper published in the journal History.

The so-called "princes in the Tower" were the sons (aged 12 and 9) of King Edward IV, who died unexpectedly in April 1483. Edward's elder son and heir (now technically King Edward V) and the younger sibling (Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York) were originally brought to the Tower of London in May by their uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, ostensibly to prepare for Edward's formal coronation. But the coronation was postponed until June 25 before being postponed indefinitely. Gloucester assumed the throne instead as King Richard III, and he had Parliament officially declare young Edward and his brother illegitimate the following year.

Although no bodies were produced at the time, historians largely agree that the princes were likely murdered in late summer of 1483. Two small human skeletons were found at the Tower of London in 1674, but there is no conclusive evidence that these were the princes, despite a perfunctory examination in 1933 concluding that the remains were those of children roughly the same ages. Two more bodies that may have been the princes were found in 1789 at Saint George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Forensic scientists have been unable to gain royal permission to conduct DNA and other forensic analysis on either set of remains in order to make a proper identification.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | imaginima)

More broadband-industry groups are lining up against SpaceX's bid to get nearly $900 million in Federal Communications Commission funding. Two groups representing fiber and rural Internet providers yesterday submitted a report to the FCC claiming that Starlink will hit a capacity shortfall in 2028, when the satellite service may be required to hit a major FCC deployment deadline.

The study was commissioned by the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) and NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association. They are urging the FCC to carefully examine whether SpaceX's Starlink broadband service should receive money from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which recently awarded SpaceX $885.51 million over 10 years to bring Starlink to 642,925 homes and businesses in 35 states. The funding for SpaceX and other ISPs won't be finalized until the FCC reviews their long-form applications, which were submitted after the reverse auction.

In a filing accompanying the study they commissioned, the FBA and NTCA told the FCC: