We're going a day early this week because Friday might be too late. The holiday shopping season kicks off in earnest this Friday. We're looking at tips for safe shopping both online and in lines this holiday season. Plus - a look back at nine years of this show. It's all ahead on Checklist No. 451, brought to you by SecureMac.

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It is that time of year. Time to reflect… to look back… to realize how little we've learned, and shake our heads in sadness. 123456 is still the most used password according to a new study - and people still think that Taylor Swift is trying to sell them stuff on social media. We're looking at weak passwords and deepfake celebrities for 2025 on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Apple's brought back an old safety feature. We'll look at Background Security Improvements, what happened to the thing it replaced, and who should have it turned on. Plus - reasons to avoid shopping on Meta platforms on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Checklist@Securemac.com

We're looking at a child safety feature and the over 400 security fixes in this week's 26.1 OS updates from Apple. Plus - Texas is exerting control over smartphone parental controls. We'll talk about Apple and the Texas App Store Accountability Act on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Checklist@Securemac.com

It's Halloween! There's a guy with an axe who wants to get into your iPhone! We'll talk about keeping him out. Plus - ghosts may not be real, but ghost accounts are. We'll tell you how to be a ghost account buster on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Meta's WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are taking proactive steps to warn users of scammers on those services. We'll tell you more. Plus - Scouting America has new merit badges for A.I. and cybersecurity. We'll talk about those on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Apple is increasing bug bounties for good guys, in theory. We'll talk about how much white hats might be able to get outta Cupertino. First though, Japan's beer bungle was a ransomware attack. An update on that and the changing state of cyberattacks on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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A bit of a boo-hiss story about a medical imaging group losing personally identifiable information on tens of thousands of patients. That's not the boo-hiss part. We'll tell you what is. First though - the FBI says someone's impersonating the FBI. And you know it's true because… it came from the FBI? Good advice from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on this edition of The Checklist, brought to you by SecureMac.

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Checklist@Securemac.com