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This is the funniest thread in a long time. Don't you all realise you are just average geeks with naff all on your phones anyone would have the slightest interest in. The self-importance is text-book Apple.
Care to share your passcode, oh enlightened "10 year old Windows laptop" user?
 
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I use 13 characters. So with the length of time it takes to crack a long pass code, its almost useless to invest in
that cracking tool if they have to wait to the next century for the results...

Same, 13 characters is the minimum I use for things I can't get out of 1Password. I use 32 characters for most things I can retrieve there (although it annoys the heck out of me that some web sites and services limit the maximum password size so some are a paltry 16 characters or even fewer).

I'll keep bumping those up as computing capacities scale. Until quantum computing gets into high qubit capacities and all traditional encryption to be blown up. Bit-coin investors beware ;-)
 
What's the point when the FBI can just hold the phone up in front of your face and it'll unlock. At least TouchID requires more effort for them to force you to do it.
 
"10 digits: ~9259days worst (~4629avg)"
Not sure if this is a theoretical estimate or they've been trying to hack a 1994 iPhone all this time.
This is an estimate based on information from Apple's iOS Security Guide. According to the guide, the iteration count of their key derivation function is "calibrated so that one attempt takes approximately 80 milliseconds". So trying all combinations of a 10-digit code takes at most 80 * 10^-3 * 10^10 = 8*10^8 seconds, which is around 9259 days.
 
Flip up control center and turn on airplane mode, now how do you remote wipe a phone when it’s in airplane mode?

That's why I've disabled Control Center when the phone is locked (of course I guess you could just remove the sim). Apple really should allow you to remove Airplane Mode from Control Center.

Regardless, my point was a 6 digit passcode is good enough to protect against common thieves. Even if they do get access to my phone, they're not getting any sensitive information because that's all protected behind additional, long and random passwords (and I can change my email password quickly so they can't use it to reset my passwords).
 
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I use 13 characters. So with the length of time it takes to crack a long pass code, its almost useless to invest in
that cracking tool if they have to wait to the next century for the results...
Yes, but now that you've revealed that the length of your code is 13 characters, enterprising law enforcement officials only have to try 13 digit codes and it is much more worthwhile.
 
I've been using a long (more than 12) character passcode ever since I started seeing these stories. Since we have touch-id it makes this type of passcode less annoying than it would otherwise be. Am I a top secret super spy? I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you (aka no.) But you never know what cops will try to do these days.
 
Y'all storing atomic secrets in your iPhones? Please. A normal passcode is going to keep out the few people who might give a quarter of a crap about your Comcast login, your Snapchats and your secret porn stash.

If a government wants to know what's in your phone, they're gonna cut to the chase and demand that complex, randomized 12-digit nightmare of a password from you and hold you until they get it -- and/or subpoena your ISP, your telco and Apple itself to get what they want.

And if there are non-state Bad People that motivated to get what's on your phone, more likely they'll just scoop you up into a van in a parking lot one fine day, drive you somewhere out of the way, and do terrible things to you until you unlock that phone.

I mean, whatever, if it makes you feel better to have a passcode that supposedly takes years to brute-force, then by all means go for it. It's fun to pretend you're a secret agent or whatever, I guess. But don't be under the illusion that a determined attacker doesn't have other options.

And if you DO happen to own data that valuable, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say maybe don't keep it on a networked device you carry with you constantly?

If I'm at a random DWI stop, and the police ask for my phone, I know my rights and know I can say 'No'. I also know they can then say they smell something, handcuff me on the side of the road while they take their time bringing in a dog, and then give the dog their secret trigger signal that something may be in the car. If they're not 100% out to get me, they tear my car apart and then send me on my way, costing me valuable time and some of my dignity.

If they are out to get me, hopefully all they do is plant a bag of crack in my car, but I fully acknowledge they can scream, "Look out! He's coming right at us!", shoot me 100 times in the back, then use the fact that I had asthma medicine in my system to disparage my good name and get folks on social media to agree I deserved it.

What they don't get is easy access to everything I've done, every place I've visited, a list of everyone I know, every idea I've never pursued, and every unfulfilled dream I've ever listed in Notes. They'll need to go to a third party to obtain permission to, maybe, access that information. Information, as innocent as it may be, I may feel is too personal to want to share with any government.

A minor victory, to be sure, but no way I go gently into that good night.
 
Alphanumeric passwords in fact not make much sense as they are very hard to remember and slower to type in. Instead people should just increase the length of the passwords.
Really? I entered this in howsecureismypassword.net:
"Mary had a little lamb, but Jack and Jill ate it."
Seems easy enough to remember, and the response was:
It would take a computer about

4 TRESVIGINTILLION YEARS

to crack your password
So I think it should be easy to come up with something memorable, unique, and very difficult to crack.
 
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Exactly this. 4 digit on my phone and my account password on my Mac's is just "1" - there, you know it, now come and hack me. It's just a lot easier when you do a lot of terminal work, i'm not going to type in passwords all the time for Sudo.
Wish I could set 1 as my server password lol.
 
Touch ID works much better but I have to relearn my thumb every so often on my 6s plus. My iPhone 5s was slower but worked more consistently than the 6s plus.
When I first got my ipad 12.9, the fingerprint scanner never worked. For me. For my husband on his 12.9 ipad. Never. Then around 10 point something, it now works 100% for both. Weirdest thing.
 
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Yeah, I'm sure a bunch of terrorists and cybercriminals are watching this website veeerrrry carefully for important secrets about cryptography.

I’m sure so many here are prime targets for getting their phone hacked and have to worry that the cops are going to take their phones and bust them.
 
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Y'all storing atomic secrets in your iPhones? Please. A normal passcode is going to keep out the few people who might give a quarter of a crap about your Comcast login, your Snapchats and your secret porn stash.

If a government wants to know what's in your phone, they're gonna cut to the chase and demand that complex, randomized 12-digit nightmare of a password from you and hold you until they get it -- and/or subpoena your ISP, your telco and Apple itself to get what they want.

And if there are non-state Bad People that motivated to get what's on your phone, more likely they'll just scoop you up into a van in a parking lot one fine day, drive you somewhere out of the way, and do terrible things to you until you unlock that phone.

I mean, whatever, if it makes you feel better to have a passcode that supposedly takes years to brute-force, then by all means go for it. It's fun to pretend you're a secret agent or whatever, I guess. But don't be under the illusion that a determined attacker doesn't have other options.

And if you DO happen to own data that valuable, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say maybe don't keep it on a networked device you carry with you constantly?

+100000 <3


No user should be using a numeric only passcode. It should be custom Alphanumeric. Period. Doesn't matter if you're doing something wrong or if you have nothing to hide.

Don't be ****ing lazy. Think of the children.

Jeez let people decide how they want to use their phones. Most of the time I don't like to have a passcode at all. And it's perfectly fine.
 
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What's the point when the FBI can just hold the phone up in front of your face and it'll unlock. At least TouchID requires more effort for them to force you to do it.
Thought the same thing and ditto for the thug that hits you in the head and grabs your phone before saying "smile for the camera".
 
I’d rather Apple make Face ID and Touch ID work correctly and more accurately! I still have a 4 digit passcode because Face ID is a hit or miss! If it doesn’t recognize my face I have to turn the screen off and back on for it to try again or make a motion of putting it down and raising it again.

Touch ID works much better but I have to relearn my thumb every so often on my 6s plus. My iPhone 5s was slower but worked more consistently than the 6s plus.

Also no easy way to use Face ID while driving. I could look straight ahead and drive while my thumb unlocked it and either use Siri or type by muscle memory. Face ID doesn’t recognize my 12 chins. And you have to stare at it for a second or so before it unlocks. Can’t do that when you need to stare ahead while driving

Well said. FaceID fails a lot for me in specific situations, as did Touch ID. Gets annoying and having a 4 character passcode makes it easier when these two things fail daily.
 
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Every digit you add makes it 10 times harder to guess. Therefore, it takes 10 times longer. If you go alphanumeric, each additional character increases the difficulty by about 188 (26 uppercase+26 lowercase+93 special characters+10 numbers+8 symbols).

Therefore, a three character alphanumeric passcode (I’m not sure if that’s even allowed) is over six times more secure than a six digit numeric one. (188^3 > 10^6)
 
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If I'm at a random DWI stop, and the police ask for my phone, I know my rights and know I can say 'No'. I also know they can then say they smell something, handcuff me on the side of the road while they take their time bringing in a dog, and then give the dog their secret trigger signal that something may be in the car. If they're not 100% out to get me, they tear my car apart and then send me on my way, costing me valuable time and some of my dignity.

If they are out to get me, hopefully all they do is plant a bag of crack in my car, but I fully acknowledge they can scream, "Look out! He's coming right at us!", shoot me 100 times in the back, then use the fact that I had asthma medicine in my system to disparage my good name and get folks on social media to agree I deserved it.

What they don't get is easy access to everything I've done, every place I've visited, a list of everyone I know, every idea I've never pursued, and every unfulfilled dream I've ever listed in Notes. They'll need to go to a third party to obtain permission to, maybe, access that information. Information, as innocent as it may be, I may feel is too personal to want to share with any government.

A minor victory, to be sure, but no way I go gently into that good night.
Fair point, and I definitely agree with the sentiment! But I do think that if they (the authorities) were to get legal permission, a warrant, to get into your stuff it wouldn't make much of a difference whether you have a 4-digit passcode or some character-riddled 12-character monster of a password -- if they have to get past something, it's a "locked door" legally, right?
 
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Don’t do anything where your phone could be taken by law enforcement, simple.

it is more than law enforcement. however it would be easier for a crook to just come burglarize your house than shell out the cost for this limited lifetime device
 
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