THE internet is awash with hackers and scammers looking to pinch your credit card details and online logins. Fortunately, your iPhone is loaded with a powerful tool called iCloud Keychain that’s easy to use and makes your accounts more secure. What are iCloud Keychain and Safari Strong Passwords? We’re constantly told to choose complicated passwords […]
THE internet is awash with hackers and scammers looking to pinch your credit card details and online logins.
Fortunately, your iPhone is loaded with a powerful tool called iCloud Keychain that’s easy to use and makes your accounts more secure.
We’re constantly told to choose complicated passwords – but that’s difficult with so many accounts.
iCloud Keychain remembers the passwords you type on your phone, encrypts them, and stores them in the cloud.
So you can choose very strong passwords without having to remember them – your phone will simply enter them for you at log in.
This is one of the best defences against hackers.
“iCloud Keychain remembers things so that you don’t have to,” Apple explains.
“It auto-fills your information – like your Safari usernames and passwords, credit cards, Wi-Fi networks and social log-ins – on any device that you approve.
“iCloud Keychain stores your passwords and credit card information in such a way that Apple cannot read or access them.”
And the Safari web browser now has a special feature called Strong Passwords.
When you sign up to a service on Safari, you’ll get an option to use an auto-generated password that’s very difficult for hackers to crack.
This password is automatically saved in your iCloud Keychain so you don’t even have to remember it.
You can also add passwords you already have into the Keychain.
But one of the best features is the password re-use alert.
It’s important to never use the same password on multiple accounts. If you do re-use passwords, hackers who break into one account can then get access to others.
Your Safari Saved Passwords will alert you when you have two passwords that match, and suggest a change for you.
First, you’ll need to make sure you’re using an Apple device running iOS 7.0.3 or later, or OS X 10.9 or later for Macs.
On your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, follow these steps:
For Mac devices, here’s what you need to do:
On an iPhone with iOS 11 or later:
On an iPhone with iOS 10.3 or earlier:
On a Mac with OS X Mavericks 10.9 or later:
You can check these passwords at any time.
In other news, personalised smart guns, which can be fired only by verified users, may finally become available to U.S. consumers this year.
Scientists are embarking on a mission to unravel the mystery behind dozens of grisly child mummies buried in an underground tomb in Sicily.
Police have caught an Italian mafia henchman who’d be on the run for 20 years after spotting the fugitive on Google Maps.
And, one of the best-preserved fossils ever found has confirmed that young dinosaurs burst from their shells just like baby birds.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk
