“Dropbox has said it needs to do a ‘better job’ of communicating its OS X integration, after claims emerged online that its Mac app was phishing for user passwords and even ‘hacks’ the operating system on installation,” Tim Hardwick reports for MacRumors.
“Developers of the cloud storage service were forced to reply to accusations which appeared on Hacker News that the client app was a security risk and ‘couldn’t be trusted,’ because of the way it takes control of system features without asking for permission to do so,” Hardwick reports. “Concerns were raised after it was demonstrated that Dropbox appears in the Security & Privacy tab for Accessibility, despite the fact that users are never prompted to grant access to the features.”
“Responding to the accusations, Dropbox said it only asks for the permissions it needs and uses the Accessibility features for certain app integrations like Office, although the permissions aren’t as ‘granular’ as the company would like,” Hardwick reports. “The latest news comes at a sensitive time for the cloud storage outfit. Two weeks ago, it was revealed that over 68 million Dropbox accounts were successfully targeted during a hack that took place in 2012.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We let our Dropbox accounts – which we never used for any important files anyway – lapse some time ago.
We use Apple’s secure and seamless iCloud Drive.
SEE ALSO:
Edward Snowden’s privacy tips: ‘Get rid of Dropbox,” avoid Facebook and Google – October 13, 2014
Dropping Dropbox: Exploring alternatives – July 7, 2014