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Apple's latest macOS release allows its own apps to bypass firewalls and VPNs

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Deozaan:
It seems Apple is surreptitiously undermining their users' privacy in a hidden "rules for thee but not for me" whitelist of their own apps on macOS Big Sur.

The new macOS release, Big Sur, has made headlines due to Apple’s decision to place 56 of its own apps, including FaceTime, Apple Maps, and Apple Music Library, on an undocumented, unannounced “exclusion list.” This means these apps can bypass firewalls and, potentially, VPNs that function on a per-app basis without the users’ knowledge or consent, undermining macOS devices’ security and privacy.

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from https://protonvpn.com/blog/big-sur-exclusion-list/

Shades:
Seems that Apple's Big Sur also puts Windows 10 to shame with regards to sending home your (or should we say their?) telemetry data back to Apple's headquarters.

[rant]
For those getting a bit fed up with this behavior, a separate router computer (can be an old clunker for small networks, as long as there are at least 2 NIC's in it) between your ISP's modem and your computer(s) becomes a bit of a necessity.

Such a router can help you divert crap traffic, and telemetry I regard as crap. Apple (or Microsoft for that matter) can play as fast and loose with their own backdoor tricks on the systems where their OS is installed, a physically separate router box will foil their plans indefinitely. Better stock up on a few Raspberry Pi 400 devices, get an extra USB NIC or design your own NIC for its expansion port and you'll be set for years to come.

Late '90s and early '00s, hanging out on the internet was actually fun in those days. On your own computer, without having to worry about anyone else hell bent on getting every bit of your internet experience for their own (nefarious?) gains.
[/rant]

Deozaan:
Here's my thought process when I saw this:

Better stock up on a few Raspberry Pi 400 devices
-Shades (November 18, 2020, 09:35 PM)
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What's this? Probably a typo and meant Raspberry Pi 4. Huh? The link includes "400" in the URL? What is this? *click*

It’s a Raspberry Pi. It’s a keyboard. It’s a Raspberry Pi designed into a keyboard.



Raspberry Pi 400 incorporates a purpose-built board based on Raspberry Pi 4. Featuring the same powerful processor, Raspberry Pi 400 has specially designed thermals to keep your computer cool and silent while you’re hard at work.

The GPIO pins remain accessible, so if you want to explore beyond the desktop, you can connect components and prototype your projects.-https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-400/
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What?! Wow! I want one!

Raspberry Pi 400 is your complete personal computer, built into a compact keyboard. Featuring a quad-core 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, wireless networking, dual-display output, and 4K video playback, as well as a 40-pin GPIO header, it's the most powerful and easy-to-use Raspberry Pi computer yet. Raspberry Pi 400 is also available as part of a complete kit including a mouse, power supply, preloaded SD card, and more.-https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-400-unit/
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I just wish it came in the 8GB RAM variant. . .

wraith808:
That was my process also.  I'm still thinkning about pre-ordering one, though.

Shades:
I just wish it came in the 8GB RAM variant. . .
-Deozaan (November 19, 2020, 02:16 AM)
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It runs on Linux, 4 GByte of RAM is less of a problem than you think. Actually, there are special distributions for the Raspberry Pi computers, which have been optimized greatly for use with those devices. These require even less resources than a standard Linux distro does.

Just so you know.

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