ChangeAgent wrote:
Are you serious?
LOL, of course not! Maybe I shouldn't have edited out that part about you quitting your job so you could focus on ensuring the integrity of your updates.
Here's the deal. A number of self-taught internet security researchers have decided they are also computer programmers and have started writing their own tools to check for malware, check for missing updates, and various other fear-mongering tasks. But suppose one of these apps tells you that an Apple file on a read-only system volume is infected with malware. Or, as in this case, they've told you that you are missing an important Apple update. What are you supposed to do? That's not a rhetorical question. I'm sincerely asking you what your remediation is in this case. If you don't know, ask the developer of that tool.
Please understand that I totally realize you didn't mention malware. I know that. But this is a community based on fear-mongering. It's not different than Qanon or any other internet conspiracy theory. You get pulled in with the softer stuff and then they feed you a little bit more, and before you know it, the government hackers are tracking you across all your devices. I see these kinds of posts here in the forum on a regular basis.
Don't assume that you are immune. Even someone like VikingOSX isn't immune. Did you notice how he used the word "silently"? That's because the fear-scape has trained people to talk about certain Apple updates as "silent", mysterious, maybe even malicious. Certainly VikingOSX hasn't fallen for the trap, but he's repeating the language. Nobody ever, not even once, used the word "silently" in reference to the standard practice of 3rd party security apps updating their malware definitions. It was only when Apple started doing its own checks that it became something sinister.
Apple simply doesn't document how the operating system applies updates like these. Therefore, any 3rd party app that tells you that Apple is doing something wrong must have some kind of basis for making that judgement. But they don't. They are simply making it up to string you along. Don't fall for it.
