iOS 14: iCloud Keychain alerts users when a password is hacked

In addition to the redesigned Home screen with widgets, App Library and features like CarKey, iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 it makes major improvements to iCloud Keychain.

In addition to the new features we’ve seen in the past few days, including a redesigned Home screen, App Library, and more,  iOS 14  and  iPadOS 14  offer significant improvements to iCloud Keychain.

Apple has made some improvements to the iCloud Keychain, including a feature that stores and syncs all of our passwords from different websites and apps via iCloud. This allows users to access more useful information about their passwords.

With iOS 14, Apple offers a new menu called “Security Tips” which shows our passwords that could put our accounts at risk . They can be passwords that are easy to guess or even cracked and made available on the web.

Now iCloud Keychain makes it clear what the problem is with the password so that users can learn more about creating more secure passwords . Some of these features were already present in iOS 13, but they weren’t as important as in iOS 14.

Below are some examples of security warnings provided by iCloud Keychain on iOS 14:

• Many people use this password, making it easy to guess.
• This password is easy to guess.
• This password uses a pattern, “123”. Using common patterns makes passwords easy to guess.

In addition to these, there is a particular warning for users, perhaps the most important of all. According to Apple, iCloud Keychain now checks if our passwords are involved in a data breach and notify us promptly.

Here’s how the company describes the feature, also present on macOS Big Sur:

Safari securely monitors your saved passwords, automatically keeping an eye on passwords that may have been involved in a data breach. To do this, Safari uses advanced cryptographic techniques to regularly check your passwords against a list of securely and privately hacked passwords that don’t reveal your password information, not even to Apple. If Safari detects a breach, it can help you upgrade to Sign in with Apple when available or automatically generate a new secure password.

In addition to iCloud Keychain enhancements, Apple announced an open source project to help developers support strong passwords compatible with popular websites. The company is also adding  Touch ID and Face ID support in Safari via the web authentication API.