Password Security App For Mac
Download Keeper to your smartphone, tablet or computer today to start your free trial. Our top-rated password manager is available for individuals, businesses, and families. Easily and securely manage passwords across devices with Keeper. Try it for free! The app does all of its encryption locally, so LastPass never knows your master password, and the Premium tier also supports two-factor authentication for another layer of security. Apple (Mac) 'I never knew the risk before - I was doing everthing wrong: I used the same password across a ton of websites, wrote them down and I saved passwords to my browser. All of these made me a huge target for hackers.
Back at the tail end of November, Apple had to rush out an emergency security patch after news of a serious security flaw surfaced in macOS High Sierra. That bug allowed users to log into a system by typing “root” for a login, then hitting enter for a login attempt several times in a row. Now there’s a new bug; it isn’t as much of a risk as that one, but it’s still a significant issue.
The bug appears limited to High Sierra (Sierra isn’t affected), and has been verified by Macrumors as existing in 10.13.2, the latest version of the operating system. Macrumors states that it cannot reproduce the error on the beta versions of macOS 10.13.3, suggesting it’ll be fixed in an upcoming release. Nevertheless, it remains active for now.
Reproducing the bug is fairly simple and involves the following steps, as laid out by eholtam, who found the bug:
1) Log in as a local admin
2) Open App Store Pref pane from the System Preferences
3) Lock the padlock if it is already unlocked
4) Click the lock to unlock it
5) Enter any bogus password
The expected behavior, obviously, is that the login attempt will fail. The actual behavior is that the login and unlock attempt works perfectly. The bug only works when you’re logged into an administrative account, but it’s another example of how Apple seems to have dropped the ball on setting user policies and permissions properly. While not nearly as risky as the earlier login bug, Apple clearly didn’t perform some due diligence testing it needed to engage in. Being able to change preferences in the App Store allows you to change the schedules for app updates, system updates, and security updates. Flipping those settings could be used in conjunction with another attack to ensure a system wasn’t patched to close a security hole, though local access or at least administrator access from a remote location are required.
The optics of the situation are worse, given that Apple specifically declared it would revisit its practices to prevent a reoccurrence. Back in late November, the company wrote: “We greatly regret this error and we apologize to all Mac users, both for releasing with this vulnerability and for the concern it has caused. Our customers deserve better. We are auditing our development processes to help prevent this from happening again.”
Clearly that audit isn’t quite finished yet. There’s no current workaround to this issue, so the only real option is to wait for Apple to provide a solution.
Let's be honest — if we had a dime for every time we forgot a password, we'd probably be able to collect more money than what all of our logins are worth on the black market.
As hackers become more agile, and as online security threats grow more advanced, login information is becoming increasingly complicated. With passwords that require a capitalized letter, number, symbol and the name of your pet from middle school, it can be extremely difficult to keep track of all of your login information for every site you visit regularly.
See also: 8 Best Free Tools for Internet Security
Thankfully, there are apps that help alleviate some of this stress by keeping all of your login information securely in one place. Not only does this mean that you don't have to remember the fake name you entered for your mother's maiden name, but it also means that you can create more secure passwords to prevent identity theft. Most apps also help detect phishing and hacking attempts so you don't have to worry about it yourself.
Password Security App For Mac Free
Check out the gallery above for our recommendations for desktop and mobile password management apps. Then let us know in the comments which ones are your favorites.
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Image: Flickr, Samyra Serin