How iCloud Keychain Keeps Your Accounts Secure

Between business and personal use, you likely have a lot of accounts to keep track of. It can be tempting to reuse the same memorable password for each, but doing so only invites malicious activity into your network. For those of us in the Apple ecosystem, the easiest way to protect both your company’s and you personal data is to use iCloud Keychain.

iCloud Keychain is Apple’s built-in password manager for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It’s designed to be seamless: When you set up a new account, iCloud Keychain will step in, offering to generate you a strong, unique password for the account. If you choose to use iCloud Keychain’s suggested password, the system automatically saves your new account credentials to the password manager.

That’s great for ease of use, since you don’t have to worry about either making a strong and unique password, as well as saving it properly. That said, if for some reason you didn’t choose the password iCloud Keychain generated for you, it’s easy to add one in yourself. On your iPhone, you can head to Settings > Passwords, then choose the plus button in the top of the window to enter a new password and username entry for any website. You can even store your MFA codes with each password, as well, if the account supports the service.

Whenever you need to access that password again in the future, it’s available automatically: When signing in to a website, you’ll see the option to use the saved password, so long as you confirm with your passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID. That goes for MFA codes as well: After entering your password, the site will ask for your MFA code, which iCloud Keychain can auto-fill without you needing to go to the settings page yourself.

But convenience isn’t the only reason to use iCloud Keychain: It can actually save you from a security breach. The service scans for known data leaks, and, when it discovers one of your passwords in one, warns you with a notification. You’ll even see a menu at the top of the Passwords settings page with all of your compromised passwords, with links to change those passwords on each website. You might not even know that account had a data breach, but because you use iCloud Keychain, you saved yourself from a potential hack.

Less drastically, this menu also warns you of any easily guessed passwords you may be using, as well as any repeated passwords. While these passwords might not be in a data leak, bad actors may not have to access them in order to break into your accounts. Plus, if you repeat a password, and it is discovered for any reason, it can be used to break into any account you use that password for.

Cover image via Apple.