Could Apple power cables help you remember your passwords?

Graham Cluley
@gcluley

Have you ever forgotten the login password on your MacBook?

Fortunately, there’s an option to receive a hint reminding you of what your password might have been.

Which is terrific, unless – of course – someone else is able to work out your password from that hint. Someone like, for instance, the guy who has just stolen your MacBook.

Let me give you an example. Imagine my password was “Doctor Who”. Admittedly, it’s not a very good password – but we know many people don’t choose passwords wisely.

And imagine that my password reminder hint was “The greatest TV show ever broadcast”.

Anyone who stole my laptop might be able to guess my password from the hint, or discover my love of “Doctor Who” via the breadcrumbs of evidence I’ve left across various message boards over the years.

Apple believes that many people choose “either not to use a password at all or to use a trivial password” because they worry about losing access to the computer if they forget their password…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.

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