Thankfully, Apple makes it easy as it informs you of Compromised passwords in your iCloud Keychain. This Password-monitoring feature alerts you when any of your passwords are vulnerable. In such scenarios, the most optimal solution is to manage your compromised passwords right away.
How to Check and Manage Compromised Passwords in iPhone?
Alongside your Compromised passwords, Apple also includes a message like, “This password appeared in a data leak, which puts this account at high risk of compromise. You should change your password immediately.” What a data leak means is that there was a security accident in which confidential data was exposed. Although it is of a big concern, you can rest assured that no hackers have literal access to your password at the moment. It merely means that your password content has appeared or matches with other content in some data formats on the web, making your passwords less strong. You may also consider this as a warning before an actual threat. But we recommend making it a high priority to quickly change your passwords to avoid any such potential security threats. That being said, here’s how you can view and change these Compromised Passwords easily through your iPhone settings. After you’ve changed passwords from the High Priority section, you can view the Other Recommendations section at the bottom of the page. The passwords that belong to this category have not experienced data leaks. However, this is Apple’s way of alerting you of the passwords you reuse on other websites. Since reusing passwords is another security risk, it’s a good idea to change them as well. You can do so by opening a password and tapping on the Change Password on Website option. When adding or changing a password, Apple also auto-suggests you a random strong password. You can use it by tapping on the Use Strong Password option to make your password more secure.
How Does Data Leak Occur?
Data leak is simply when a user or software accidentally gets unauthorized access to sensitive information, like your passwords. The leaked data can get shared across many other sites or destinations on the web. The primary reasons data can leak are due to the information being weak or user activities. Nevertheless, let’s look at other possible causes as well:
Unencrypted or Weak Passwords, like ‘[Name]123’ Lost Device or Stolen Passwords Typing the same password in multiple unprotected platformsSome applications don’t protect your passwords Online hackersPotential viruses/malware Clicking or opening suspicious sites/links that can extract your password
