As you\u2019re no doubt aware by now, some naughty hackers have stolen some…erm, naughty photos of various celebrities from their iCloud account.<\/p>\n
The chances of these hackers targeting your photos is pretty low, but it\u2019s still worth making sure that your iCloud account is nice and secure should you ever achieve worldwide fame (good luck!).<\/p>\n
Two-step verification is a new feature that requires users to enter a verification number sent to a trusted device after logging into their account. This stops people from accessing your iCloud account remotely (as the hackers in the celebrity photos palaver did).<\/p>\n
However, two-step verification is not a default setting. You can read more about setting up two-step verification on Apple\u2019s website<\/a>, but it boils down to these steps:<\/p>\n Two-step verification is easy to set up, and it\u2019ll stop people nicking your stuff; what\u2019s not to love?<\/p>\n (note: you can also set up two-step verification for Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive).<\/p>\n A strong password can save you a lot of hassle in the long run. It\u2019s been speculated that the hackers behind the celebrity photo leak used a piece of software that simply kept trying passwords until one worked, which means using a common password puts your data at risk.<\/p>\n It\u2019s commonly suggested that you set a complex phrase that you\u2019ll remember as your password (something unique!), although a few numbers thrown in can\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t be tempted to use the same password for every site, either. While Apple requires that you use a password that you haven\u2019t used in the past year when setting up your account, using your Apple ID password for subsequent can lead to problems too. Set a unique password for every account you set up and use a password manager like LastPass (which we covered in this blog post<\/a>) to keep track of them all (and keep them secure, of course).<\/p>\n If you want to take naughty photos of yourself (we\u2019re not judging) but don\u2019t want them to end up in the hands of nefarious hackers, don\u2019t upload them to iCloud. Simple, eh?<\/p>\n To stop your photos automatically uploading to iCloud, you\u2019ll need to turn off My Photo Stream:<\/p>\n Be aware that you won\u2019t be able to see pictures taken on your phone on any other Apple devices after turning My Photo Stream off unless you a) upload pictures to iCloud manually or b) turn My Photo Stream back on.<\/p>\n There are some things that just don\u2019t belong on the Cloud: naughty pictures, bank details, that top secret you made of yourself miming along to Call Me Maybe <\/i>when that was still a thing.<\/p>\n Take a look through your existing files on iCloud and delete anything that could pose a security risk (or be a constant source of embarrassment), although make sure you save the file on your desktop\/laptop first.<\/p>\n Although we suppose that\u2019s easier said than done, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Got any iCloud security tips? Share them with us in the comments.<\/p>\n\n
\nSet a stronger password<\/h4>\n
\nTurn off My Photo Stream<\/h4>\n
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\nReview your existing pictures and files, then delete any that you\u2019re worried about<\/h4>\n
\nDon\u2019t take embarrassing pictures<\/h4>\n
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