An independent security researcher recently discovered that some Apple Macs older than a year are susceptible to a nasty bug that would allow attackers to gain access to a computer once it wakes from “Sleep mode”.
The bug affects Mac's sleep-mode energy conservation application, which can leave the computer vulnerable after it wakes up from being put into sleep mode. While this attack is very hard to execute and there are no reports of this bug being used by attackers in the wild, it is still important to be aware of this vulnerability and know how to stay safe.
Is My Computer Vulnerable?
Affected models are the MacBook Pro Retina 10.1, MacBook Pro 8.2, MacBook Air 5.1 Late 2013 Mac Pro and MacBook Pro 9.1.
How Can I Stay Safe?
Rather than put your Mac into in “sleep” mode, shut down your computer completely after each use until Apple can release the latest patch to fix this issue.
Symantec has also confirmed the existence of this flaw, which you can read more about on the Symantec Security Response Blog.