MacFormat UK – June 2019

46 | MACFORMAT | JUNE 2019 macformat.com @macformat

Overhaul your passwords

Defend your personal information in a few simple steps

IT WILL TAKE

15 minutes

YOU WILL LEARN

How to use more

secure passwords on

both iOS and macOS

YOU’LL NEED

macOS Mojave,

iOS 12, a password

manager (optional)

There are many ways we can

safeguard our accounts. Apple

provides plenty of options, from

two-factor authentication to

using hard-to-guess security questions.

But there’s one thing many of us fail to

properly sort out: our passwords.

Whether that’s by using passwords that

are too easy to guess or using the same ones

on every website we visit, it’s all too easy to

make yourself and your personal information

vulnerable to light-fingered malcontents.

Making a change can seem daunting –

after all, ‘12345’ is much easier to remember

than a string of random numbers and letters.

But securing yourself doesn’t have to be

arduous. With a few quick steps, you can bring

your accounts up to speed and locked down.

Thanks to iCloud Keychain, you don’t even

have to remember your passwords, thus

encouraging you to use more complex ones.

So it’s settled: there’s no excuse not to

seal your accounts to be safer than Fort Knox.

Let’s find out how it’s done. Alex Blake

HOW TO Audit your passwords >

1

View all your accounts

On iOS, go to Settings > Passwords &

Accounts > Website & App Passwords to

see all your saved accounts. On a Mac it’s

Safari > Preferences > Passwords. Your

accounts are listed in alphabetical order;

tap or click one to view its password.

2

Identify duplicates

An exclamation mark in a triangle

next to an account means its password

has been reused. On iOS, tap the website

name, then tap ‘Change Password on

Website’. On Mac, click the yellow triangle

to change your password on the site.

3

Scan and save

Built-in password audit features are

included in some third-party password

managers. LastPass can scan your saved

passwords and highlight any that are

weak. It then gives you a score and offers

to generate (and save) new ones for you.

APPLE SKILLS Mac/iOS software