Apple’s password manager iCloud Keychain might seem decent enough for an average user in the Apple ecosystem but it comes nowhere close to dedicated third-party password management services like LastPass or 1Password in terms of features. Well, a new report from 9to5Mac suggests it would change soon.
According to evidence found on iOS 14 code by 9to5Mac, Apple is working to bridge the gap by adding support for two-factor authentication and will soon recommend users to change passwords if the same password is being reused across multiple services.
You might be already aware that enabling two-factor authentication everywhere possible is a crucial step everyone must take to stay secure on the internet. With the addition of dedicated two-factor authentication support, users will be able to login using iCloud Keychain without relying on SMS or emails as the authentication method.
If Apple offers two-factor authentication with no additional costs, it would give the company an edge over third-party services that charge for premium security-focused features. With that said, don’t be surprised if Apple announces a subscription fee to access these premium features from iCloud Keychain with this potential security improvement update.
Coming to password warnings, people still tend to use weak passwords across multiple services being unaware of security consequences. If you’re guilty of doing that yourself, haveibeenpwned would be a good place to check if you’ve been vulnerable all along.
In fact, according to Splashdata, the top three worst passwords of 2019 were 123456, 123456789, and qwerty. The addition of reused password warnings is certainly a welcome feature that would benefit iCloud Keychain users.
