Apple - password hell -again

[Dave2002]

Recently I posted about Apple’s new OS version - Catalina. Today I was posed another problem.

Mrs d has a MacBook Air which is still running Yosemite. Today she wanted it tidied up. In order to do that I think I needed her App Store password, in order to get the newer software - the most up-to date compatible software that is. Now she hasn’t a clue what her App Store password is/was.

I’d been here myself a few weeks ago, and managed to get a new password which worked for me, but trying to do the same for the new situation hasn’t worked. Too many things can change over time, addresses, telephone numbers etc., which might make password recovery very difficult.

I asked why she hadn’t written the password down and put it in a secure place. “Oh, that wouldn’t be secure” - which is all very well, but if years later one can’t remember relevant passwords and can’t recover them, that’s not at all good.

So in the end I just tidied up the Yosemite system, and installed a version of Project Desktops (I think no longer available in the UK) and showed her a few tricks using smart folders and smart mailboxes in the hope that things won’t get in such a state again. Maybe eventually we’ll figure out how to get updates, but it might take a while.

I’d say that if you really can’t remember passwords (which shouldn’t be easy to guess) that it does make sense to write them down, and hide the paper or book somewhere secure. Other people have other strategies, but they may require much greater trust in tech companies than I personally have.

[burning dog]

I'd put your password in a CD case among your collection. A passacaglia perhaps? Far more likely to be hacked, or scammed in to giving your password online, I'd have thought. You could also use a "hint" for part(s) of the password.

[Dave2002]

There are several issues here. Firstly, it’s not what I do or do not do which has been the problem. People are different. I have strategies for my own passwords. I’m not going to elaborate much further, but one step does involve writing passwords down, and I do mean writing, not typing.

In order to get the password an attacker would probably have to locate the paper, though there are other methods.

I don’t trust tech companies at all.

The big problem in the scenario I set out in msg 1 is that someone else (Mrs d) has lost (never recorded) a password which is needed to enable updates and maintenance to be done. Recovery of the password, or resetting it is difficult because of various circumstances. All I have so far been able to do is to make the machine more usable, but I’ve not managed to recover or reset the password.

The machine should have a few more years of life in it - it doesn’t have to go to landfill yet.

[MrGongGong]

The machine should have a few more years of life in it - it doesn’t have to go to landfill yet.

It doesn't need to go there at all
send it to Brian

[Anastasius]

I just use 'password' for everything. Makes life so much easier

[Dave2002]

I just use 'password' for everything. Makes life so much easier

I hope you're joking!

[Lordgeous]

I just use 'password' for everything. Makes life so much easier

Only thing that works for me is hints or reminders. But can't Macs store and encrypt your passwords?

[Dave2002]

Only thing that works for me is hints or reminders. But can't Macs store and encrypt your passwords?

Yes and No.

1. Macs nowadays tend to store data in the iCloud - if one allows that. I try not to - I really don't trust Apple and iCloud. If I had a Windows system I wouldn't trust that either.

2. There's a problem if the password you need is the one to access the App store, then it's a bit like trying to open a case when you know where the key is, but it's locked inside the case.

I know that a lot of people nowadays are much more gung ho about storing data "in the cloud', but I'm very wary of that. Oddly enough, I still lock my house when I go out, and my car when I get out of it. I have a similar approach to data. Old fashioned, eh!

[oddoneout]

Yes and No.

1. Macs nowadays tend to store data in the iCloud - if one allows that. I try not to - I really don't trust Apple and iCloud. If I had a Windows system I wouldn't trust that either.

2. There's a problem if the password you need is the one to access the App store, then it's a bit like trying to open a case when you know where the key is, but it's locked inside the case.

I know that a lot of people nowadays are much more gung ho about storing data "in the cloud', but I'm very wary of that. Oddly enough, I still lock my house when I go out, and my car when I get out of it. I have a similar approach to data. Old fashioned, eh!

To me a cloud is uncontrollable and leaky, so I've never really seen it as a desirable place to lodge my important stuff, but as I'm so backward when it comes to such things it isn't really an issue, I just don't do it.

[Dave2002]

To me a cloud is uncontrollable and leaky, so I've never really seen it as a desirable place to lodge my important stuff, but as I'm so backward when it comes to such things it isn't really an issue, I just don't do it.

You should check to be sure that none of your data gets into a cloud if you don’t want it to. Tech companies sometimes switch on features with updates which may effectively move your data - the updates might “give them permission” to do that.

I don’t suppose there’s really much to choose between Apple and Microsoft - I suspect that both do this.

It’s quite hard - almost impossible - to know that your data isn’t leaking if you don’t want it to. So there really is a big question of trust with the tech companies. On top of that there are criminals who will attack your systems and steal/look at your data.

However some people/companies have clearly decided that efficiency benefits override the risks. Sometimes they’re right to do so, but awareness is important.

[MrGongGong]

This (again)

https://press.princeton.edu/titles/9436.html