Uninstall the Nightowl App, now.
Uninstall the Nightowl App, now.
EDIT: It seems this made it to HN. Is this my cue to Soatokify this article?
The NightOwl application has existed since 2018 and is used to automatically switch between light/dark modes on the operating system. It is an alternative to the built in macOS automatic mode which only switches when the user steps away from the computer.
However, the application has been bought out by “TPE.FYI LLC” in late 2022 that forcibly joins your devices into a botnet for use of market research, without your knowledge (other than the TOS in small text on the download page) or express consent (this feature cannot be turned off, even when the app is quit). This is documented in their terms of service.
This is extremely shady. How do I know if other apps I have are making me part of a botnet?
65Use free and open source software
24Something being open source doesn't automatically make it safe to use. Sure, it means it's easier for people to check for security issues, but how many people actually have the knowledge and the time to do it? And even then, take the log4j vulnerability from a while ago, it's been present in the code since 2013 and only reported in like 2021.
39You still need to build package and install it yourself though or else you are trusting someone else. Open Source software has been used as a vector for attacks before by bad actors getting access to the build system or source code.
6I try to where I can, but unfortunately this is not always an option for me.
2
You need to examine your devices packets and see what servers they're going to. You can do that through Wireshark on Windows, or use an external sniffer to examine them.
I'm not aware of any native apps for Mac that can do that, but maybe others will know.
8You mean like Wireshark lol?
12If you're just interested in connections (and don't care about packet inspection) you can use Little Snitch (paid) or LuLu (FOSS).
Actually, all the Objective-See Foundation security tools are great and target specific classes of vulnerabilities, like LuLu for outgoing network connections, RansomWhere for detecting ransomwear by looking for encryption events, Oversight that monitors you cameras and microphones and a bunch of other really small, but really useful security utilities. Better than running a shady antivirus that's going to suck up loads of resources and rely on signatures.
8Wireshark is available on intel and arm macs.
5
Vigilance. Resource monitoring and network traffic monitoring. The occasional scan with anti malware tools to catch known bad actors.
I use malwarebytes when someone needs a scan, though they got naggy enough that I uninstalled it right after using it for my grandfather. Other monitoring IDK. LittleSnitch is popular on Mac but I have no personal experience with it.
6
Disclaimer : not an Apple user, not a lawyer
This should be illegal by European law. Without further knowledge it seems like a prime example for the GDPR letter of death and a pretty solid case for data protection lawyers
35Unannounced changes to the Terms of Service are definitely illegal.
11
31When did this message appear?
2
Should be illegal
9Light and dark mode can be set to turn on automatically at a given time or can be set via sunset/sunrise. Not sure where you got people need to step away from their devices to enable.
6Jeez. I've been using it since 2018 and is one of my favorite applications. Maybe downloading an older functional version would mitigate this?
3I don't use a Mac but can't you just block the app from accessing the internet in your firewall? MacOS has a firewall, right?
1The macOS firewall can only block incoming connections. If you want to block outgoing too you need something like LittleSnitch or LuLu.
4It does. Didn't think of that actually.
2