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How secure is Keychain

A

AlexQQQ

macrumors member
Original poster
Hi,
How secure is Keychain. Is it prudent to store my passwords, bank info and such there in the secure notes section (under a different keychain and different password than the login)?

Can someone hijack my computer through my internet connection (broswer, network,...) and gain access to my data? Not as concerned about somebody stealing my laptop, since I'll be aware that it has been stolen and can take action. How prevalent is remote data theft by the way?

Have read threads on this topic but I am still a bit confused on where the possible breach could occur. Thanks for your help.

Alex
 
AlexQQQ said:
Hi,
How secure is Keychain. Is it prudent to store my passwords, bank info and such there in the secure notes section (under a different keychain and different password than the login)?

Can someone hijack my computer through my internet connection (broswer, network,...) and gain access to my data? Not as concerned about somebody stealing my laptop, since I'll be aware that it has been stolen and can take action. How prevalent is remote data theft by the way?

Have read threads on this topic but I am still a bit confused on where the possible breach could occur. Thanks for your help.

Alex
Click to expand...

The passwords are encrypted using Triple DES encryption, designated by NIST to have 80bits of security. While it's not triple nested AES encryption, it's more than sufficient to protect the average person. I would be more concerned with the strength of your admin password. I highly doubt that there are any feasible network attacks on the keychain. I would make sure that the OSX firewall is on if you are concerned, or hide yourself behind a hardware firewall (preferable). Also, make sure to practice the usual safe practices online (installing software only after validating the source). You should be fine.
 
AlexQQQ said:
Hi,
How secure is Keychain. Is it prudent to store my passwords, bank info and such there in the secure notes section (under a different keychain and different password than the login)?

Can someone hijack my computer through my internet connection (broswer, network,...) and gain access to my data? Not as concerned about somebody stealing my laptop, since I'll be aware that it has been stolen and can take action. How prevalent is remote data theft by the way?

Have read threads on this topic but I am still a bit confused on where the possible breach could occur. Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

Someone could guess your password. If they can't guess the password, there is no way to crack the contents of your keychain.
 
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